


Skinned hearts

by SkilledWarriorKiwi



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: A lot of worldbuilding, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Tragedy, Animal Instincts, Anyone surprised Mundus is a shit dad, Awkward Romance, Awkwardness, Blood Magic, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Blood and Torture, Blood and Violence, Body Horror, Both of Nero's parents have no idea how to act normal, Cannibalism, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Child Abuse, Childbirth, Childhood Trauma, Corpse Eating, Demon Courting, Demon Powers, Demon/Human Relationships, Demons, Demons aren't just evil bastards, Dismemberment, Dorks in Love, Dubious Morality, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Manipulation, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Ethical Dilemmas, F/M, Family Feels, Feral Behavior, Fights, Gore, Human Experimentation, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Idiots in Love, Interspecies Awkwardness, Kidnapping, Long, Magic-Users, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Minor Canonical Character(s), Moral Dilemmas, Morally Ambiguous Character, Morally Grey Reader, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Original Mythology, POV Second Person, Psychological Torture, Reader is Nero's mother + Mundus' daughter, Reader-Insert, Self-Mutilation, Skin Hunger, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Social Issues, Soft Vergil (Devil May Cry), Spells & Enchantments, Stalking, Star-crossed, Tho you're fairly nonchalant about most of it, Torture, Touch-Starved, Typical DmC themes, Unplanned Pregnancy, Vergil and Reader are both violent socially awkward nerds, Weird Biology, Witchcraft, Women Being Awesome, Worldbuilding, You eat people is what I'm trying to say, You go through some shit, eventually, no beta we die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2020-07-08 12:01:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 97,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19869313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkilledWarriorKiwi/pseuds/SkilledWarriorKiwi
Summary: There was a reason hybrids between human and demon were so rare. Even a pregnancy in a normal human pairing was taxing upon the mother but with a hybrid it was more often than not lethal. Human and demons were never truly meant to breed and for all successful pregnancies there were thousands of deaths, of stillborn or infants born only to die moments later from their conflicting nature or grotesque malformations. Or of purely demonic young eating their way out of their mothers and both dying as a result.Mundus went through many humans, women abducted to the demon world by his minions, until one survived through the pregnancy long enough to birth a child which could pass for traditional human being. One which was too demonic in appearance was no use- he wanted eyes and ears within the mortal realm. Someone who could slip pass demon repellents and could search without scrutiny into unlocking the seals holding him prisoner. Something that could slip past Sparda's notice and to search, under the radar, for ways to fully manifest into the human world. For all Mundus looked down upon humans he wouldn't dismiss a tool without testing its use first.You never had a normal childhood.





	1. Her

**Author's Note:**

> Oh man I am _living_ it for all the OC/self insert stuff in this fandom lmao it's amazing. 
> 
> You guys ever played Bloodborne? MC's powers are gonna be kinda like that, mainly focused on blood and gore as a fuel for her spells even tho she uses a [rapier](https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fimg08.deviantart.net%2Fa7b8%2Fi%2F2016%2F022%2F2%2F3%2Fitalian_rapier__1__by_danelli_armouries-d9oymeo.jpg&f=1) as her main weapon. Fighting style will kinda be like [Lady Maria](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=supjjImTE3c), what with using her own blood as a weapon with her strikes. MC's also an enchanter and she'll use her own body parts to strengthen spells/charms. (Especially since one of Mundus' powers is power augmentation, tho MC can only do it for herself) Blood is a very big tool and I've always like those grotesque aspects in games lol so there will be quite a bit of self-mutilation in this tho good thing Reader can heal, right? But yeah, blood magic and a lot of nonchalant gore and self harm to fuel spells and weird demon behaviour
> 
> And for the MC demon form it's gonna be bird-ish like [Credo's Angelo form](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/devilmaycry/images/8/86/Angelo_Credo_render.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/624?cb=20181001085355) or [Lucia's devil form](https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fvignette.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fdevilmaycry%2Fimages%2F7%2F7b%2FDMC2_-_Lucia_Devil_Trigger_01.png%2Frevision%2Flatest%2Fscale-to-width-down%2F200%3Fcb%3D20150326115016&f=1) but more stream-lined with a bird face, a [snowy owl](https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.pvQr58Td0wxlG4lSLbZ-pgHaEK%26pid%3DApi&f=1) colouration with gold scales and a [crane](https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.pexels.com%2Fphotos%2F66286%2Fstork-feather-bird-animals-66286.jpeg%3Fh%3D350%26auto%3Dcompress%26cs%3Dtinysrgb&f=1) beak (basically a sharp af spear for a beak lol) and naturally will have the [tongue of a goose](https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fc2.staticflickr.com%2F4%2F3092%2F3141810271_7a15a049b5_b.jpg&f=1). Anyway I wanted the idea of Mundus's daughter being the MC since Mundus = feathered wings = Nero and I also spent a lot of time toiling through those tumblr blogs that post super high rez screenshots of DMC and realized Nero's necklace in DMC5 was two silver wings around a ruby. Like yeah I know it's prob based off Kyrie's 'cause those two losers are adorable but still, the muse approves lol so yeah basically loads of feathered wings and bird mum 
> 
> but seriously why the hell do goose need teeth on their tongue? Why did Mother Nature come for us like that

* * *

There was a reason hybrids between human and demon were so rare. Even a pregnancy in a normal human pairing was taxing upon the mother but with a hybrid it was more often than not lethal. Human and demons were never truly meant to breed and for all successful pregnancies there were thousands of deaths, of stillborn or infants born only to die moments later from their conflicting nature or grotesque malformations. Or of purely demonic young eating their way out of their mothers and both dying as a result.

Mundus went through many humans, women abducted to the demon world by his minions, until one survived through the pregnancy long enough to birth a child which could pass for traditional human being. One which was too demonic in appearance was no use- he wanted eyes and ears within the mortal realm. Someone who could slip pass demon repellents and could search without scrutiny into unlocking the seals holding him prisoner. Something that could slip past Sparda's notice and to search, under the radar, for ways to fully manifest into the human world. For all Mundus looked down upon humans he wouldn't dismiss a tool without testing its use first.

You never had a normal childhood, Mundus not interested in acting like a father to a lowly half breed so you were given to one of his underlings to be raised. Your life was a secret, something only your father and keeper knew of. You never knew their true name or face, and they fed you and taught you and told you that your purpose was to serve your father. Cloaked in black robes, hands gloved and their eyes glints within the depths of their hood your keeper always made sure you knew your fate and your importance in aiding the demon emperor. To aid him in escaping from his prison to assume his rightful throne over all life, of all worlds. Each day you were brought before a statue of your father in the main hall where it watched over your training. Mundus, the Prince of Darkness, and made to pray to be worthy of his notice, to be worthy of your life he had granted you.

Your earliest memories were training under this faceless keeper, of learning how to wield a sword, how to fight with your bare fists, how to endure pain. The limits of your small humanoid body, of how long it would take for you to succumb to starvation or dehydration, how much blood loss you could handle, of potential poisons or resistance you had. You had your skull cracked to see how you fared under brain trauma. You had fingers cut off to see how long it took for you to grow them back. You had your eyes gored out to teach you how to fight while blind and bleeding. 

"Pain is the lot of life," Your keeper told you, watching you impassively as you groped for your weapon while blood streamed down from your eyeless sockets, their own weapon was held loosely at their side, "You must accept it, to eagerly endure agony for our master."

"For Lord Mundus," you said, small crimson-painted fingers wrapping around the hilt of your sword. Breath short and wet you straightened up, gripping the weapon with both hands as you turned in the direction of your keeper's voice.

"Yes. His will is all," they said, before darting forward and impaling your chest with their spear.

Pain and loneliness were all you knew, your keeper calmly keeping you appraised of your progress as you grew from toddler to child under their tutelage. Of your failures and slow steady improvements. Life in the Underworld was isolating as you were kept to a single building and not permitted out doors until you were proven worthy to act in Mundus's interest. Pain was your only constant companion, your healing always pushed to its limits and failures was not tolerated even as a child. Your keeper did not tolerate any diverting interest away from your training and you quickly learned to not ask questions outside of your assigned study period.

During those sessions you learned about the war between the human world and the demon world. About how the True Hell Gate was sealed by the traitor Sparda who dared to turn against your father, when the split between worlds was initiated. That the traitor used his powers, cut into three, to force Mundus into Hell in a seal even he cannot break.

You felt that if your father was actually the true King of the Underworld then how did Sparda, his right hand man, even rebel in the first place? It did not make sense to you.

You made the mistake of mentioning that during the lesson and your keeper struck you so hard they shattered your jaw and burst your left eye right out of its socket. You never asked about Sparda again.

At least you had inherited your father's self healing, steam rising from split skin and exposed organs to knit together until your flesh was unblemished. Personally you hated these particular lessons, when you were injured to test your healing speed and response to harm. The taste of blood was a near constant in your life and the only time you seemed to be uninjured was when you woke after slumber, injuries healed passively in your cold empty room, before you were thrust into your morning training.

During one of these lessons your keeper was seated on the ground across from you, both of you sitting on the stone floor of the empty mansion you were housed in. In their gloved hands was a long knife and they used it to slice open the back of your hand. Despite only being six, you had already learned that flinching and crying was not to be tolerated and would only result in further pain. While your keeper was not permitted to kill you, you had learned there were many, many things that could be inflicted upon you before your life was in any genuine danger. Your keeper knew these limits well.

"Focus upon knitting the wound," they informed you, their voice as dry and toneless as it has always been.

You nodded, eyes focusing on the injury even as hot blood began to drip onto the stone below. It was like visualizing a zip, to urge the fix the severed nerves, muscle and skin of the split flesh. If you stopped to focus you would heal faster than the passive rate though you found it too difficult to do so in the middle of a fight. It was a disappointment, due to your diluted blood you knew, but even as you focused the bleeding ceased and with fading steam the torn flesh healed. Your keeper watched, impassively, as you licked your hand clean of blood before flexing your fingers to confirm you had restored the injury properly. A few times when you'd focused on quickly healing you'd done it wrong and the badly healed flesh had to be split or broken again. So you learned quickly about the correct way to fix yourself.

At the least you were permitted texts showing the diagram of the human body. It was preparation, your keeper informed you as they handed you the books, for when you were within the human realm. Some humans, despite their thin blood, could decipher seals or force devil remains to bend to their whims. One of your tasks would be to hunt these humans when you were trained. As such you had to know about the human anatomy. About all the fibres and ligaments, skin layers and bone structure. Some humans believed they could withstand torture and you would have to break them for information if needed. 

The books fascinated you, especially when you learned there were only a single type of human. While they may deviate in size and colour, all humans followed the same overall body structure. You knew demons had a much greater variance in racial differences, from the body-less Sargasso and Sin Scissors, shape shifters like Plasma or Mannequins, parasites and scavengers like Beelzebubs and Empusa, or demons born from objects like Kyklops or Blades. Humans had no such variance, despite tiny differences in breeding or skin and hair. It was so odd to you and as your keeper said was yet another failure of the human race to emphasize their low standing compared to demons.

"Lord Mundus can create demons," your keeper told you, "Even ones that look exactly the same as human beings. However they can never hide their true superior nature to the sealing seals or those who know how to look, which is why you exist at all despite your inherent inferiority. Though you are not born from magic or stone as others forged by Lord Mundus, you owe him your creation just the same. You owe him your very existence. Do not ever forget that."

There was a brief thought at that, another niggling notion in your mind about if your father was the true master of both realms then why could he not escape? Wouldn't he have mastery over _both_ domains? But you remembered the punishment from asking about Sparda so you stayed silent, eating your customary bowl of carrion. Your food was always the same, blood and bone and plants of the Underworld mashed together in a crimson pulp. Your blunt human teeth found it difficult at times to chew through muscle fibres but you were used to it. The same way you were used to the way your keeper would stare at you impassively the entire time you ate. You never saw them eat and wondered if perhaps your own rate of consumption was due to your diluted blood.

Through experimentation it was revealed you had a deft hand in enchantments, embedding weapons or objects with spells and hexes. This was taxing however and even the simplest of spell left you unable to move for days. Your keeper simply said you needed practice and a new lesson was added to your already extensive daily routine. Like all things your body needed to train in order to grow stronger as you matured and the same was for your spells. Magic was common for demons and you knew your father was immensely powerful with such things as well. 

It did become apparent that the more flesh and blood you lent to your enchantments the stronger and more long lasting they were. You started with simple spells after attempting advanced ones simply caused your hands to explode, having to start yourself on low tiers until you advanced with time and advance you did. Your keeper theorized it was due to the fact your blood was suffused with your energy, and due to your half-breed nature that was what prevented you from augmenting other demons after you tried and failed to apply a basic enchantment upon your keeper and which you could apply upon your self with ease. It was immensely disappointing, which your keeper made sure you were well aware of, but your powers could still be of use.

At least you discovered you could grow back limbs and missing appendages quickly from enough failures. You could channel your energy into instantaneously restoring a lot limb yet to do so in excessive fashion meant fatigue, dizziness and vomiting. Something your keeper lectured you over yet again, stating you needed to train more to compensate for your human weakness. 

You also learned to channel your natural healing to the most grievous of wounds, to ignore lesser cuts and breaks. 

By the time you were nine you figured out how to suspend your blood, ripping off a fingernail and channelling it through the wound to float your blood in the air and twist the crimson liquid into the shapes of a seal or spell. It was more difficult for you to charge your innate demon energy but at the suggestion of your keeper you began to charge it through your exposed blood. To otherwise manifest your demon essence was impossible but one evening, as you were kneeling on the ground and drawing a lightning trap seal on the stone while your keeper watched, you channelled your devil nature through your bleeding finger and your body _changed_ to the delight of your keeper.

Quickly you learned, from your keeper's enthused words, that much like your father you had wings, thick and feathered. Though while your father's wings seemed to be forged from shadows and each beat sounded like the booming toll of thunder, your wings resembled that of a snowy owl and were just as silent. You keeper theorized that perhaps you had an ice element nature that would reveal itself though you could tell they were pleased that you had fully manifested your demonic form. Though, as they said, it was still very far removed from your father's glorious self.

The rest of your devil form was avian, golden scales covering your hands and feet with talons like a hunting bird while your feathers remained white. A long tail ended in a flare of feathers to help with complex manoeuvrers in the air or abrupt changes in direction. Your face would become pointed with a sharp, blade-like beak intended to skewer and pierce and short horns grew from your skull. Feathers grew upon most of your body while transformed and the scales protecting your stomach, throat and limbs were still fairly soft. Your keeper said they should harden as you mature, as with the span of your wings and length of your horns. You were then trained to transform easily, even if you could only maintain a full demonic body for a few hours at a time before being forced back to your human self. Your wings however you could manifest on their own for days before the strain became too much and you were forced to dismiss them.

You could also sharpen the edge of your feathers to rival any blade and could even use the loose ones as throwing knives, though while your feathers were hardened you had more difficulty manoeuvring through the air.

At least the training hall was big enough for you to learn flight manoeuvrers, and the feeling of air rushing through the snowy white feathers were as close to freedom as you were allowed. Naturally your first few tries left much to be desired, crashing into walls or scraping across the ground in a painful heap but the more you tried the better your flight became. Your keeper also noticed you were utterly silent while flying, wings parting the air with nary a whisper. An assassin, your keeper noted with approval. Which would easily fit with your overall purpose to your lord father.

Mundus. Each day you would pray to your father's statue before your lessons, awaiting the day he would personally check upon your training. You hungered to please him, an obsessive fanatical desire to please infused within you since birth. To serve your father and die without hesitation. Something your keeper made sure to repeat, to constantly press upon your impressionable young mind in the years you grew. That was your only reason for living. Your only reason for existence.

As you knelt before the statue, hands clasped in prayer, you gazed up at the ancient stone carving of the Demon Emperor; the densely chiselled musculature with stern, strong facial features, thick coiling beard which seeped into the heavy breastbone, massive feathered wings, the additional watchful eye located directly in the centre of his forehead. You knew through your keeper that Mundus could manifest his will and see through any statue of himself. There were still some within the human world and some more made by the demons serving their emperor within that realm. For him to gaze into the realm that belonged to him and which some day he would take.

That was your sole purpose, your reason for being. To serve your Lord father and to die for him without hesitation if need be and thus you needed to of use. At least your seal work was still steadily improving, reading through tomes and books to perfect the sigil as you drew them in blood, changing the velocity or energy of trap seals or editing an already implemented sigil. Editing seals was difficult to learn and you lost more fingers and limbs as you went through trial and error to discover the limitations of your meddling and to prove yourself worthy. 

You were even given a low level Devil Arm, a weapon formed from the body of a defeated demon. To both you and your keeper's disappointment you could not change the inherent nature of a Devil Arm or use it within your spells or as fuel. But you discovered that you were capable of eating Devil Arms to completely restore your heal and vitality, your blunt teeth splintering open the weapon with disturbing ease to devour the thrumming essence inside. Eating one would result in an instantaneous healing and energy boost which made up for your dismal failure as a weaponsmith somewhat. Though for a non-Devil Arm weapon you could inscribe a blade with sigils to charge, making them conduct electricity or frost or fire. At first you could only charge them with the barest of flames, or a thin coating of frost or a small jolt of power but like with your other abilities it would get stronger with time and practice.

Studying Devil Arms was a fascinating branch of lessons however- you knew from previous teachings demons could separate part of their powers to create individual weapons, like how Sparda split his power to create Yamato, Rebellion and the Sparda sword when he was living but most commonly they were created from fallen devils. Their inert life force turned into a weapon. It made you wonder if you would be able to create your own weapon, though currently you had access to the glittering arsenal located along the wall of the training hall which contained every known weapon. But if you created your own you wouldn't have to worry about a sheath or it standing out in public when you were finally accepted to serve within the human realm. 

Though that would have to wait until your demonic essence was mature enough for as your keeper said your growth rate was different, limited by your tainted human blood. To forge a weapon from yourself, from your devil spirit, could stunt your growth and cause irreparable damage so unfortunately that experiment would have to wait. At least you could differentiate between replenished energy to using your actual devil core for fuel- it was one of the most important aspects of sealing, your keeper said, as you would recover the energy from the seal work you did but forging a weapon from your soul was an entirely different matter.

During sparring your keeper would cycle through all the weapons available to find a preferred one for you to choose. You were adept at a variety of weapons, from swords and axes to whips and flails but you found you favoured precision over all else. Such as the estoc, épée and rapier. Weapons designed to pierce, for pin-point accuracy. You knew the best ways to kill and incapacitate humans and demons, once researched, tended to have the same soft spots. Something quick and clean, a fitting weapon for an assassin in the works. The narrow, deceptively sharp blades reminded you of the skewering beak of your demon form and it felt fitting as you trained with the weapons until the blades felt as familiar as one of your own limbs.

Then when you were twelve your keeper informed you that Lord Mundus had finally deigned to meet you, to judge you and see if your ill-begotten half-breed self had produced anything of value. To be judged before the Prince of Darkness.

You could feel your skin tingling as you were bought before him, stomach tight and heart fluttering in your chest as your keeper urged you forward. Lord Mundus towered over everything, his three eyes glowing like fire and huge wings blackening the warping sky as he loomed over you when you were bought to an empty plain of the Underworld. His body looked akin to a statue, carved from a glistening stone and was so immense you could only see his upper body as he loomed over you. Despite his statuesque body you could see a stranger flickering, briefly showing fleshy innards and so many eyes, underneath his marble like skin.

It was your first time truly seeing your father, and you thought him so beautiful and you felt a child's hope that he would praise you. Instead you remembered the manners your keeper had beat into you, quickly dropping to both knees in a kneel before him and leaned forward until your forehead was touching the ground. 

You remained kneeling on the ground for so long your legs went numb and your back muscles begun to cramp; there was not a single sound to distract you, not even the sound of breathing but you knew better than to move. Discipline, as your keeper had repeatedly stressed. Obedience.

Then a finger the same size as you came into view, a stone-cut nail carefully tilting your head up off the ground until you dared to look up at Mundus. You felt your demon essence rise to the surface in response to the first touch of your sire, the shimmering ivory aura dancing across your skin in a veil of sparkling mist as the Prince of Darkness observed you with three crimson eyes.

And then he spoke.

It was the first time you ever heard a voice in over a decade besides your own and your keeper's.

"My daughter."

* * *


	2. Rapier

* * *

You sat bare on the cold stone floor, legs stretched out in front of you. Your long white wings were fully manifested, helping to prop you up even as as you used a razor sharp dagger to slice your leg open from ankle to groin. It was a task requiring intense concentration, using your innate magic to keep your blood circulating within the cut flesh rather than spilling along the floor and to resist healing the wound. 

Your skin split like a berry, showing crimson flesh below warm skin and twitching pulsing tendons, as you began methodically slicing through the quadricep femoris and extensor, the sartorius and tibialis anterior with controlled strokes of the blade to get to the gleam of white buried deep within.

The searing agony was a familiar sensation, your breathing even despite the fact you had slowly and steadily cut your leg open to the bone. You ignored the pain, carefully placing the knife down before reaching into the crimson mass of twitching muscle. With steady fingers you slid them around your tibia and fibula, wings braced as support on either side of your bent torso. You paused briefly to focus on your wound, on pushing back your natural healing again and to strengthen the pressure on containing your blood. To keeping it flowing through the rest of your body and not to spill through the gaping wound.

When you regained your focus you tightened your grip around your bone before sliding your hands down to firmly pull the tibia and fibula free from the connection to the talus and calcaneus of your foot. You shuddered at the wet noise as the tendons were severed, your breath hitching slightly before you returned back to your tranquil focus. Once those two bones were successfully dislodged you moved back up, across the hard nub of your exposed kneecap to your femur. 

Next to you, you were acutely aware of your keeper watching intently and you had to resist the urge to glance over at the statue of your father at the end of the hall and its ever watchful presence.

Instead you focused on dislodging your femur from the transverse axis at your pubis. After some careful probing you had to pick up the blade again, deepening the cut at your tensor fasciae latae muscle to slice the iliofemoral ligament apart. You shuddered at the sensation, the knife nearly slipping in your grip and you instantly froze in place. At you inattention blood sprayed out of your femoral artery and splattered across your face and bare torso. Your wings twitched, droplets of crimson staining the white feathers, before you carefully controlled your frayed emotions. The blood spraying from your cut artery spluttered before you controlled the crimson fluid again, forcing it back inside your body as your circled it through the surrounding veins and muscle.

Calmed again you returned your focus on dislodging your femur from your pelvis, a wet ripping noise sounding as you finally yanked the bone free of its socket. A shudder and your wings spasmed, stained feathers fluffing as you struggled against the burning pain. Carefully you pulled your tibia, fibular, and femur from the bloodied split mass of your leg, briefly having to manifest a claw to cut away clinging bits of flesh but eventually you had the stained bones fully extracted from your leg.

Shutting you eyes you felt sour bile surge up your throat to burn your mouth. You took hold of the dagger and quickly wedging the bloody knife in your mouth as you bit deeply into the Devil Arm. You heard a small plaintive cry as the blade broke, swallowing down the burning essence as you consumed the rest of the Devil Arm. Then you released your focus upon your leg, steam bursting free as a brilliant white devil aura lit up the muscles before your bones regrew with a sparkling gleam, closely followed by the severed tendons and muscles knitting back together before smooth unblemished skin covered it. Licking your lips you ran bloodied hands across your legs, feeling the blood pumping through your restored veins and muscles.

Your keeper watched you impassively as you stood shakily. Gingerly you flexed your toes, leaning all your weight on the healed leg before jogging in place for a few seconds. Satisfied that you'd healed correctly you bent down and picked up your bloodied leg bones, gingerly holding them in your hands. You'd had severed limbs before but you never really poked or held them. Now, running your fingers along the bloodied surface, you feel intrigued at knowing it had come from your own body and you'd replaced it already.

With a rustle of robes your keeper smoothly rose to their feet, "Good. Considering your experiments you will now have the amount of bone needed to forge your weapon."

It had been decided that upon your fifteenth birthday that you would need to forge your own weapon. Devils with strong souls could create weapons from their own essence as a Devil Arm, to be as integral to them as their own limbs much like how Sparda had done with his three blades. However your keeper had been strict that, unlike most demons, you would not be permitted to forge a weapon using your devil essence and you would have to rely upon your flesh and spell work to create a worthy weapon.

"It is an attempt to not dilute your already limited power," they had told you, "And furthermore your connection to Lord Mundus must remain unknown. Once you have forged a blade, that last aspect will also be addressed."

You had nodded; it had been another consistent rule. You were to die with the knowledge of whom your sire was. 

"Because of this you cannot infuse a weapon nor create one through your devil powers, as it may resonate with Lord Mundus or to any who have known his splendor. However there are other ways to craft a weapon and your skills in blood magic are beneficial here. You will forge a weapon of your own flesh and, using seals, potentially store it within your human body instead of your devil soul as those who can manifest their own Devil Arms can do. A bastardized version, as benefiting your status and skill set."

That was when you begun your own research, sketches and notes, your keeper leaving the majority of the task to you. At the age of fifteen your body had began to grow and shift, until you keeper deemed you fit to try creating your own weapon. Your usual training had continued after the first, and only, time Lord Mundus had graced you with his presence those years ago. After his first acknowledgement of you the Prince of Darkness had deemed your growth 'adequate' and then vanished with nary a sound or movement. As you keeper said that was high praise from Mundus for a lowly half-breed such as yourself. Humans were utterly incompetent so the fact Mundus hadn't killed you meant he found you acceptable. That he had, once again, gifted you with life.

Your demon had been buzzing under your skin for hours after that meeting and you did wonder if you'd ever grow to be as large as Mundus. Though the strongest of devils could shape shift or perhaps his vast size was a testament to his overall power. However that was a question unanswered as you were put back in your training which, as before, consumed all your time. As the years past you began to grow into an adolescent, reflexes and strength getting honed through the countless hours of training. You learned more about the Human World as well, and it was on your fifteenth birthday that you were ordered to forge your own weapon for when you were would be ready to complete missions in the name of your father.

After many weeks of planning and theorizing you chose a rapier as the overall design for your weapon. You then spent months finalizing the design, the spells that would go into it and how you would forge a weapon without adding your demonic power to it. At least your abilities as a mage were invulnerable in that regard as you could reinforce the weapon with your blood-soaked spells and since they only worked upon yourself, it meant you would need to create the weapon from your very bones so you could affix the spells within its very marrow.

To test your abilities you started off small- you quickly learned your feathers wouldn't be folded into other weapons, the plumage turning into dust whenever you tried, so you used your finger bones to create some mock ups. The first few attempts were too brittle or blunt, with you trying to make senbon from the phalanges. Molding the bone was easier the fresher it was, with the bone marrow still malleable and alive and after three days you made a senbon sharp enough to puncture stone. Your keeper also tested it, managing to break the bone needle until by the end of the week you'd ironed out your spells for durability until the bone was strong enough even your keeper couldn't snap it. Once that had been completed, you'd moved onto making mock up swords and perfected the process with them as well. By the time that was done you'd amassed a fairly large tower of sketches and notes that your keeper later set alight, with a scolding that you shouldn't keep such detailed notes of your process as they could be easily stolen.

Chastised, you'd made sure to remember each step and, if you did write or sketch things, you destroyed them shortly afterwards. As your keeper said it didn't matter if they were spells you believed only yourself could complete. They could still be exploited and stolen. It was something you knew the Human World made an immense mistake of due to their short lifespans and mental ineptitude, which would work in your favour when you were sent there but for yourself you would not be allowed such leeway.

But now you had the spells and seals in mind as you gripped the dislodged bones in both hands, sensing through the hard shell to the sponge-like innards as you began to the step-by-step augmentation process.

The shaol of sigil you carefully designed were transferred into the bone past the osseous tissue, squirming deep within the yellow bone marrow and the tiny blood vessels within. They were spells of durability and endurance, even as you sliced opened your hands to run your blood across the bone to begin molding it into the shape of your intended rapier. Due to still being part of you the bone eagerly absorbed the blood and while working you started to hum. It felt easier to channel through that, the low wordless note helping you focus as you carefully began to smooth out the femur to sharpen it into the blade.

By the time you were finished molding it, the rapier was bone white from the hilt to the tip of the blade. The knuckle bow, loop guard and side rings were forged to look like feathers looped around the hilt, the curling shapes ending in delicately carved plumage you'd carefully etched in using a sharp claw tip. The only deviation in colour of the weapon was a dense sparkling ruby forged from your blood set as the pommel, something that made it easy to focus pyromancy, brontmancy and auromancy through the blade and channel them alongside your blood even if at your current strength you could only manifest small bursts.

By the time you were done you were exhausted yet elated. Getting to your feet you gripped the swept hilt before doing a series of basic movements, the blade moving easily through the air and settling well against your palm. You sparred with your keeper despite your exhaustion, testing the blade against a spear, broadsword, axe and hammer but despite the blows which made your arms shudder the blade itself did not break. Even when your keeper gripped the blade, bending it into a smooth arc with their full strength, it did not snap.

"Interesting. You have successfully created your own bastardized version of a Devil Arm," they said in approving tones as they handed the blade back, "While you are no Machiavelli, this will suffice. Since it is created from your bones and fed with your blood, you should be able to absorb it much like a Devil Arm. Usually they are manifested and dismissed using your own demon soul but the purpose should be the same except you will be using your flesh of your human self. Dismiss the weapon now."

You did as you were told, focusing on the rapier within your hand and mentally urging it to be absorbed back within you. Honestly you thought it would take you a few times to master it but immediately the weapon vanished into nothing. You couldn't sense any change to your body but when you willed the rapier back to you it reappeared in your hand with nary a pause.

Your keeper blinked, the bright glints of their eyes within their hood disappearing for a brief moment, "That is adequate. You have a functional weapon which you can conceal. That will aid you in remaining detected, especially since the weapon does not have a demonic resonance."

Looking down at your rapier you frowned slightly; they were correct in that regard, as anyone else who studied it would probably assume it was only enchanted. You _had_ built in a fail safe where your sword would explode in a boiling mass of blood if someone tried to wield it against your will, hidden among the spells deep within the marrow. Better safe than sorry. if someone decided to be overly nosy.

"Now the final solution, as it is confirmed you are adept in manipulating your own body. Your scent marker is the biggest issue so you shall use this," your keeper extended a gloved hand, upon which a small silver cross rested, "Embed this within your heart. You will survive it and it shall nullify your scent resonance with Lord Mundus. You will still clearly be a hybrid yet your sire's scent will not be traced through your tainted blood as it will cleanse the process, so none with recognize it even if you stand before the traitor Sparda himself."

You accepted the small cross, feeling it pulsate against your palm. It was small, the same size as your thumb nail with an orb as the centre, but you could sense the roiling spell forged into the warm metal. You couldn't sense too much of it, the metal foreign and feeling oddly resistant to your probing. Quickly you stopped however, feeling your keeper's ire raise at your behaviour and lax response. With that in mind you carefully formed your long claws on one hand and used them to puncture the skin of your breast until a slither of your heart was exposed. It was much the same as when you cut open your leg, keeping the blood within your body even if your fatigue made it hard to concentrate.

It was more difficult due to being exhausted after crafting your rapier to focus on keeping your wounds contained so rivulets of blood sluiced down your chest to drip to the floor below. The Devil Arm you'd eaten had recovered your strength and healed your injuries but creating the rapier with so many spells was tiring. Still, you managed to open your chest enough that you could push the small cross through your muscle to your heart. It absorbed near instantly, settling into your pulmonary valve and you quickly pulled your claws free. Staggering to the side you clutched at your chest even as steam rose from the healing wound, pain radiating through your body like a burning fire crawling through your veins.

Your keeper watched impassively as you fell to the ground, the pain powerful enough it rendered you immobile. You were well used to pain but this was something dragging through your core or acid eating at your organs.

Then just as quickly it was over, leaving you gasping on the floor with sweat dotting your body. Your fingers felt raw and your skin sensitive. Within your chest your rapid heartbeat slowly began settle and you struggled to get back to your feet before you were punished for weakness. Pain was your lot in life.

Your keeper hadn't moved and just eyed you for a long moment before they inhaled deeply, "Good, it is already in affect. Being a half breed you are predominantly kept within your lesser human form so the change will also affect your devil formally in scent marker. Now you smell of hybrid yet with no familiarity to Lord Mundus."

You coughed weakly, blood dotting your lips as you rasped, "I understand."

"Now that you have your own weapon you will go through one last test before you are deemed worthy to act within the Human World in missions to serve our Lord Mundus as enough time has been wasted upon you already," your keeper told you flatly, "For this final test, you will be sent into the Underworld and you must survive for one year. If you are not dead by the end of this time limit then you will pass. When the time limit is reached I will retrieve you. If you die, then you die."

"May I take anything with me?" You carefully didn't show any of the dread you felt at your abrupt final test due to being in such a weakened state where you were about to be thrown into Hell whereas you've so far never once left the mansion. Your keeper had no such tolerance for weakness or whining however, so instead you directed your thoughts to what you'd have to do to survive out there alone. _Shelter first._

"Aside from your sword which is now within you, no. You will be bare in all sense of the word and must survive with only yourself. Find your own food, water and other such substances. Fight the demons who will attack you. None know of your origins but they will know you are a crossbreed," your keeper said, reaching forward with a gloved hand, "They will hunt you and if they catch you they will kill you. Prove that these years of training have not be wasted. That you are worthy to serve the Prince of Darkness. You shall begin now."

* * *


	3. The Underworld

* * *

The first week was the toughest.

It was frustrating you couldn't manifest clothing or armour on your own- any full blooded devil could do so, but due to your ability to shift between a human and devil form it seemed only your demon had naturally accruing armour. An annoyance, especially since you hadn't been allowed to take your customary plainclothes outfit with you before your keeper teleported you to a random plain in Hell to begin your test. You then spent the first three hours running for it, as a flock of Hellbats had spotted you immediately and attacked. 

You were exhausted from carving your rapier and inserting that filter into your heart, but you'd been trained for years so you ignored the burning in your limbs and shortness of breath even if you stumbled or fell several times due to the foreign nature of Hell. You had never left the mansion before so the Underworld was churning and alien to you, but you could trust your body to know what to do when you jumped across a chasm to avoid a cluster of Beelzebub and used the ribs of a long dead creature as a climbing frame before leaping down a cliff. Eventually you found a small crater caused by a long-finished fight within a crumbling castle wall and huddled there to come up with a plan of action and to let your wounds heal. Steam rose from the numerous cuts and scrapes along your naked body even as you mentally ran through a list of what you'd need; you could survive a week without water and a month without food but after that it would begin to leave you lethargic and suffering from organ failure. If really pressed you could go for two months without food and drink your own blood but your reaction speed and strength suffer. However they weren't currently a pressing need so you pushed it down the list of lower priority.

After some time running through ideas you decided that you had to skin yourself, carefully harvesting the flesh from your stomach, thighs and back with transformed claws in order to craft makeshift clothing to provide some protection against the harsh environment of the Underworld. Unfortunately, even with you holding your blood inside your body as best you could the open wounds caught the nose of a wandering pack of scarecrows and you had to make a speedy escape with your cut skin in hand.

In between the resulting chases and hiding you scraped off the clinging muscle from your detached skin before drying it with a simple heat spell. Once that was completed you needed to make a solution to soak the skin and you found it in the husk of a twisted tree you spotted down in a ravine. Gripping the slabs of skin in your teeth you went about cutting at the lumpy hide the ashen-grey plant with your long claws. Said tree woke up as you were cutting off pieces of its bark and the resulting smack to the solar plexus sent you flying into a nearby wall and breaking several bones but it left you with the bark you needed. After finding a small wet cave to crawl into, one that had a large enough pit in the ground to serve as a makeshift earthen pot which you filled with your own blood, you boiled the bark and soaked your skin in the resulting solution. 

While the skin got ready you got in a fight with a passing Sargasso, summoning your rapier and shattering the demonic skulls in a short fight. Once it died you quickly harvested the pieces of Sargasso bone, using the shards to gouge the sharp spines out of your side that the tree had left embedded within you. By the time the solution was fully absorbed in the make-shift leather, you had picked your body clean of wounds to set your body healing and investigated the cave further; it wasn't that deep, with only two chambers, but persistent water streamed from several holes in the ceilings to vanish down a tunnel at the far end. You took a tentative sniff, smelling the sleeping Msira pack far inside the tunnel and quickly went back to the first chamber to fetch your now finished skin.

That done you stretched the skins taunt against the wall between the long thorns growing from it, you sleaked them down with the Sargasso bone fragments. You didn't like being in the cave and your first day in Hell was difficult already and it wasn't even half way done; it had been disorientating to be outside the mansion, to suddenly be thrust in a completely different landscape when all you'd know for fifteen years was the same unmoving mansion and its cold stone. The only time you'd ever left was when you briefly met Lord Mundus and that was on a barren field with a pitch black sky before being sent back to the mansion. Now you had seen churning clouds, massive hills and twisting buildings. It had been automatic to set your mind into survival, to purely focus on solving the most immediate situation but you felt a twinge of anticipation at exploring this new world.

Once you were clothed you'd feel a lot more stabilized and less exposed, though it would take you some time to fully cover yourself. You couldn't skin yourself overly as it would leave too much flesh exposed, leave too much of your scent in the air to be hunted. You knew hybrids weren't common and many demons would want to devour you. Fitting, considering you could so easily eat Devil Arms. 

That also reminded you that from now on you'd have to hunt for your own food. At least you knew which plants or demons were poisonous or toxic, having done years of study upon the Underworld and the landscape within. It was still so different actually being in the thick of it compared to reading it within books and tomes. 

Taking a steadying breath, you finished the sleaking and using a needle of one of the bone fragments you stitched your hair into the makeshift leather to embedded the skin with hurried charms for durability, scent dampeners and elemental resistant into the tanned flesh. You kept giving glances towards the small cave opening and then at the other cavern, not liking how you were boxed in. Your rapier could be summoned through your flesh in an instant but you didn't enjoy being so close to the fringe of another demons lair, you own devil bristling under your skin to the point you had to pause in your needlework to get yourself under control again.

By the time you finished you'd managed to sew a sleeveless jerkin and ragged shorts. They were fairly shoddy and hurried crafted but you shrugged them on easily, your leathered skin resting easily upon your still living skin. Frowning you tugged at the laces along the front of your jerkin, the threaded laces made from your own hair, before quickly doing a series of stretches to check the flexibility of your improvised clothing. You were rather pleased that they shifted with your movement, still slightly damp leather not tearing or crinkling.

It was good timing, as you could hear the soft noise of claws gripping at stone as the Msira began to awake so with that in mind you quickly left the cave behind.

* * *

You didn't sleep in that first week beyond a few hours snatched here and there. At the slightest noise you snapped awake, alert you any potential devil hunting you as the instincts urged you up. It had been half right and you'd have to dodge from a sneaky strike and other times you jolted back into consciousness alone. However you were small and sneaky, trained in stealth and as you slowly adapted to the landscape you began to get more and more adept at avoiding enemies. You couldn't hide forever but until you were familiar with the Underworld you didn't want to run the risk of getting into too many fights or have word of your existence spread. You knew if you did get killed your father would simply wash his hands of the failed experiment and you were determined to succeed. You would prove your worth to him despite being a lowly crossbreed.

The Underworld was difficult to adapt and impossible to map due to its ever changing nature. Some structures may remain constant but buildings and cliffs and hills randomly rose and fell due to the reality warping nature of Hell. Even in specific realms things could still warp wildly with no warning. Once you woke up and everything was upside down, you having to cling to the ground to avoid falling up into the sky for several minutes before everything went back upright.

The Human World, you'd learned from your lessons, on the other hand was fixed in place with the landmasses never moving and the weather mild compared to the acid rains and glass storms that would frequent Hell. You did quickly learn what type of weather you could fly in, as having your wings shredded by the rain was never fun so you took care to keep an eye on the sky while exploring. The blood rain would also be thick enough it would render your blind and sense of smell utterly uselessly so you quickly learned how to reach approaching storms.

However it wasn't all just practical goals. While roaming the Underworld on your own was survival training you also knew it would be a rich source of information for you to explore. Not just for obscure information like Devil Arms and seal work but also about the Human World and the politics within Hell. 

You were a bit hesitant on that last part but reasoned that you certainly were not acting against Lord Mundus by information harvesting. After all if you were sent into the Human World other demons would most likely kill you just because you were a half-breed and not all of those obeyed Lord Mundus. You knew of the old war between your father and Argosax, but Argosax left Lord Mundus' territory alone just as Lord Mundus left Argosax's alone. Both too powerful to destroy the other. You wondered what Argosax looked like, but most distributions made them seem more akin to a fire elemental. Then again Lord Mundus looked as if he were carved from cold stone so perhaps looking like magical constructs were something the most powerful of demons were.

Yet Argosax was also defeated by Sparda and both they and Lord Mundus were sealed in Hell. Sparda was more powerful than the two of them combined; even if he had sealed his power via splitting it into three you had little doubt he'd be able to kill you easily enough. How could you truly avoid the Dark Knight in a stagnant world? 

Then again Sparda had a weird softness for humans so if you played up the hapless half-breed act maybe he would be less likely to gut you instantly.

Though you were fairly sure you _could_ survive disembowelment provided you had a handy Devil Arm to munch on. To have one of those however you'd need to defeat a powerful demon or steal one to keep on hand. 

However if what your keeper said was true Sparda wouldn't be able to smell your blood connection anyway due to the talisman you'd been given. An internal check did show it was acting much like a filter, simply removing the racial trait of Mundus' blood to give you your own unique devil scent rather than one associated with your father. Since your heart was the core of your circulatory system it filtered through constantly and in turn altered your scent due to the blood being the life of everything in your body, including scent glands or sweat. Still, would Sparda recognize your aura? Or would he just kill you on principle?

You had no idea, as for all the stories about the Dark Knight's prowess and strength there weren't a lot about his personality. It seemed when Sparda split the worlds he'd fully chosen humanity. It made you wonder if Sparda had intentionally wanted to forget his demon nature, which you found so foolish. Why would he _want_ to stay with the weak humans? Though perhaps due to his strength he ruled over them or just found them an easier meal than fellow demons. You were rather unsure.

With a grunt you got to your feet, stretching out your limbs and flexing your spine before jumping up onto a floating pillar and away from the broken temple you'd been sleeping in. The landscape was currently a thickly grey storm front with gigantic floating slabs of white rock which seemed to have been destroyed in a massive ancient battle. There was no colour in this part of Hell, everything white and grey as you ran across the pillar and leaping across to a colossal, head-less statue and crawling up the arm towards the shoulder. 

It was nearly the same size as Lord Mundus and the stone was cool beneath your bare feet before briefly manifesting your wings to flap up onto the statue's decapitated trunk. Off in the distance a giant disembodied eye floated across the sky before disappearing behind the broken pieces of a castle.

Your senses were unused to Hell, so used to being confined in a stagnant cold building that never changed, so the vast expanse was something you were still getting used to even after four days of running around. However you were getting hungry so you mentally shuffled around your list even as you leapt into the air and started gliding towards one of the nearby towers as you prepared to hunt.

* * *

Using your full devil form made you more noticeable due to the increase in aura but your snowy plumage let you blend in with the ashy tones of the current plane of Hell you were on. You had passed several demons but many were too large and powerful for you to be confident in beating so you took steps to avoid them, including a massive volcanic Chimera dozing in a pool of lava. Its serpentine head tail shifted slightly in your direction as you flew overhead but it obviously didn't care enough to chase you.

However you soon came across a deep valley, swooping down to land on a dead tree branch jutting from the wall to watch a flock of lesser demons flying around in the distance. You recognized them as Puia, with their scaled legs, long wings and short, bloody snouts. They could shoot their feathers as projectiles, much like yourself, but you noticed they were a lot less controlled and quiet in the air. There were also over three dozen more roosting in the shallow pits dotting the cliff face at the end of the wall, their invisibility not fooling your nose or ears.

Remaining in devil form you hunkered down, talons digging into the tree branch as you watched the Puia flying about. You needed one to separate from the flock enough, knowing you could crush its skull with your hind claws and easily carry the corpse off. And watching the Puia made you fairly confident you could out fly them and a part of you was rankled at how rough their flying was. There was also the option of impaling one with your beak but lugging its corpse around would obscure your vision. You'd also need your arms free to fight off any Puia that went in pursuit of yourself.

 _I just need one good strike,_ you thought, wings slowly rising up as your glowing white eyes fixed upon one of the Puia which was fluttering at the edge of the flock. An adolescent, much like yourself and now your prey. You needed to strike something vital and their serpentine necks, featherless and covered in leathery skin, were the perfect target at your current altitude.

Silently you flexed your wings and launched off the branch with nary a whisper, quickly ascending up into the cold stiff air until you were over a mile above the flock of devils. You hovered in place, long white wings spread wide and occasionally doing a downwards stroke to keep you level as your gaze remain fixed on the young Puia flying about far below. Patience was always needed in a hunt, in any activity really, so you weren't overly bothered to be kept waiting.

Shifting you bought you wings up high and you plummeted downwards, feet first, in a silent dive. The air rushed past your avian head, ruffling your lupine ears and flowing through your feathers before you struck the unsuspecting Puia so hard you broke its neck with a sharp _crack._ The rest of the flock shrieked furiously, instantly becoming hostile even as you and your dying prey dropped further down the valley before you managed to right yourself. Clenching your talons deep into its neck you beat your wings furiously and took off with several of the flock in pursuit. A few flung their feathers at you but you hardened the ones along your tail flare as a impromptu shield to bat aside the projectiles. 

While the Puia were fast, you were even faster and as soon as you shot over the crest of the valley they gave up with a few final screamed insults. You cast a quick glance over your shoulder but they were fairly easy to give up so you made off with your prey. Carefully you kept your claws dug deep in the Puia's neck, hooked talons sunk in the wrinkly skin before finding a small overhang to land upon.

With a grunt you dropped the Puia down, landing next to it and remaining in devil form as you started to eat; running along the top and bottom of your sharp beak were rows of small hooked fangs that usually stayed completely flat, smooth and harmless as the roof of any birds mouth, but you could flick them down in order to tear meat free of the Puia's corpse. Currently you were content to eat the flesh raw, the demon's blood hot as it slid down your throat to be quickly follow by torn muscle. 

The blood would only stain your feathers for a few minutes before disappearing so you weren't very concerned with the splatter. You were well used to meat but having it so fresh and bleeding was a new experience and you found yourself enjoying it, at how the tough muscle and skin caught in your teeth, how you had to rip it free and the burning sensation of blood and hot meat sliding down your throat.

_Flesh._

* * *

As soon as that first week passed, when you began to learn how to hunt, which water was poisonous, how to skulk around the larger devils, how to sense your enemies and navigate the churning landscapes of Hell it quickly became easier for you to survive. At least with less grievous injuries and sleep deprivation.

Of course there were failures- you misjudged a pool of water and spent the afternoon hallucinating and vomiting blood. Being poisoned once mean you could create an immunity but it still _hurt_ puking up your stomach lining. You misjudged attacks or was too slow to properly dodge and so got punched or stabbed or bitten. Theoretically you knew the devils and their general behaviour, what they looked like and typical temper, but knowing about them was entirely different from actually fighting them. You were strong, swift and smart but still deeply lacking experience.

You were also still young despite all the training and hadn't yet become a physically matured adult. Learning to pick your battles was essential to survival as was knowing when to flee. You didn't care about leaving a fight since you weren't ordered to die against them so as soon as you started to break too many bones or losing too many limbs you'd leave to nurse your wounds. At least your extensive knowledge about your own body helped, especially with limiting your bleeding and selective healing though you found yourself more injured after fights than you'd like and resolved to get better. 

Though not all demons were hostile; some simply weren't hungry while others couldn't be bothered fighting. It was the more intelligent ones who went with that path compared with the stupider lesser devils who just acted on instinct. At least the idiotic ones made good meals though they were too weak to turn into Devil Arms. The strongest you stayed far away from but you found that the more intelligent demons were actually fairly prone to conversation, with many curious as to your origins. You knew far better than to even think about Lord Mundus as you simply said you had been forced from your nest to survive by your mother which mostly accepted even if some demons had _opinions_ about it. Half-breed were very rare in Hell but not unheard of so while you could take a tasty meal many devils were more interested in gossip.

If there was one thing you discovered was that demons _really_ liked gossip, which was fitting considering the fairly backstabbing and isolated nature of the Underworld, along with the rampant gambling and bets. So for though you were very aware a lot of devils wanted to eat you, you had also never spoken to another besides your keeper- your father didn't count, the meeting so brief and one sided -so you found yourself eagerly wanting to talk to fellow demons despite the sheer risk. It was a novelty you relished and after some time you began to feel more confident about approaching demons who weren't hostile. Or at least didn't attack you instantly though you weren't so foolish as to let your guard down around them.

You did find a fairly good source of information while flying through a crystal cavern, wings manifested as you swooped around the thick pillars of gemstone in the immense cave that was so tall that the crystals growing from the ceiling looked like stars. Thick pools of water littered the cavern floor, including several waterfalls gushing from the walls. The ground was mostly soft sand and there were a few demons lurking around including one which was currently doing laundry at a waterfall and the others you could see seem to be lounging around with no real interest in fighting or causing drama. A quick sniff and glance revealed none of them were lesser demons, which at least meant they wouldn't just act like stupid hungry animals.

Swooping down to one of the waterfalls you hooked the clawed thumbs of your wings around a spike of crystal jutting from the rocky wall. Hanging there you reached out a hand, letting the cool water run down your fingers. Sniffing at it you couldn't sense any poisons even as it flowed across your skin, so after some scrutiny you felt safe enough to cup your hands and drink. Once that was done you quickly put your head under the water, scrubbing through your hair as you took an extremely hurried shower. Your skin clothing was loose enough the water quickly soaked your body and after barely twenty seconds under the water you swung yourself out again but at least it got the dried blood off you. A shower wasn't worth a sneak attack, even if none of the demons in the cavern were currently hostile or even really paying attention.

You did, however, spot the two purple Rusalka sitting on the ground a dozen yards away, giggling as they played with each others tendril hair in overly exaggerated movements. Between them was a cluster of crystal where you could see the delicate thread connecting them to the much larger toad demon hiding below ground within the sand. The Rusalka noticed you watching them and the left most feeler smiled at you, waving a glowing limb for you to come over while the other suggestively leaned against its fellow.

Resisting the urge to roll your eyes you called out, "I know what you are so cut the games. Does that even work in Hell?"

The Rusalka both paused, the human-shaped feelers titling their heads simultaneously before the left one said in a simpering voice, "It does but usually only against the stupider demons. I'm practicing anyway. The humans always fuck up at some point each year or so, so I gotta keep my skills sharp for hunting."

Your hand twitched as you nearly summoned your rapier, fairly sure you could dodge any ice it tried to throw at you. Tentatively you glided down to settle on a jutting shard of crystal, making sure to keep out of reach of the other demon. Despite its lack of hostility you weren't stupid enough to get close and knew these particular demons were ice-magiked.

"Eh, you're lucky I ate before," the Rusalka with a dismissive hand wave, even as its submerged host shifted slightly in the sand, "I'm not interested in eating you, nestling."

"I am hardly one."

A laugh that time, "Oh please, you're very much one. Little toadlet running about with no guidance. For shame."

The devil seemed more amused than anything, the Rusalka twittering to each other and linking their hands together. You knew the lures were designed to look like nubile human women but they were also gelatinous, their purple flesh semi transparent and glistening with thick flowing tendrils for hair. You had no idea how humans were stupid enough to fall for the obvious trap even without the obvious stench of the host and the half protruding tail but then again you'd been taught humans have very limited mental faculties.

Demons were made up of passion, most of them dark and violent. Yet for some reason those aspects seemed to appeal to humans so they would succumb to such obvious traps. Then again their entire existence was just to be used by demons- mostly for food or toys, you knew, so it must be their innate nature at play. Even the separation of Worlds didn't erase that integrate part of themselves. Its one of the reasons why you had such extensive training, to compensate for your natural human deficiencies.

The Rusalka interrupted your thoughts by asking, "You ever been to the human world? They're a tasty treat and they'd be stupid enough to think you're full human."

"No," you said, fluffing your wings, "But I'll get to the Human World eventually. Humans aren't really a threat though, it would be harder to avoid the Dark Knight."

The Rusalka gave you simultaneously odd looks, "You been living under a rock or something? Sparda's gone."

"Gone? Where?"

They laughed, "Now isn't _that_ the million orb question? Where is Sparda? If Mundus killing his little human pet didn't make him show up then it's a pretty good assumption he's dead, isn't it? Or sealed somewhere. Ha! The irony 'cause if that last one happened then the humans did it."

"Certainly Hell would've heard of that," you said doubtfully. You knew your father had a fairly intensive network of devils working for him, including those within the Human World and if a devil _had_ succeeded in slaying the Dark Knight they would certainly make sure everyone knew about it. Unless the fight killed them as well. _That is so odd, though. What could take down the traitor? Is that why Father killed Sparda's...human mate? To lure him out?_

"You'd think but so far no one has taken responsibility," the Rusalka shrugged, "I mean we all know Mundus sent his underlings to kill that human whore and those two half bred mongrels of his- no offence intended, of course -a few years back but nothin' about where the fuck Sparda is or if he finally died. Pretty damn weird if you ask me, even that Argosax didn't claim it so where is he? Everyone is losing it speculating over it and the betting pool is ridiculously huge at this point. But hey, means you'll have a lot easier time hunting eh? Sparda was basically the only protection the squealing meat had and if he ain't doing shit then better pickings for the rest of us."

"But the barriers are still up," you said. The conversation confused you a lot; you knew full well you weren't intended as a killer of Sparda so little wonder your keeper didn't keep you apace with that but wouldn't the Dark Knight's silence be something to tell you? Then again your main objective would be finding ways to open portals connecting Hell and the Human World together and if Sparda wasn't confirmed dead he could just be...hibernating somewhere so he could still end up a threat.

"Well sure but humans are dumb and have short memories. I've been summoned a few times by moron humans and if you know where to poke and have the magic for it you can slide through the veil minus a bit of flesh. You'll get there, nestling, and you'll see why demons like eating humans so much. Something so _sweet_ that you ain't finding in other devils, even half-breeds like you."

The demon seemed very open to talking to you so you pushed with a curious, "You said Sparda had a pet? A human?"

Nodding, Rusalka's tendril hair bouncing with the movement, it replied, "Yup. Weird if you ask me, would be like screwing a Nobody. Guess Sparda had a fetish for humans or something, what with all the shit he pulled with them and splitting the two worlds to protect those foolish little meat sacks. Though he even _married_ her, how fucking disgusting."

"Married?" the word was foreign in your mouth.

"Yeah. It's uh like the human equability to becoming mated." The Rusalka's faces both twisted up in disgust, "I didn't really believe it if you ask me but one of the demons who've been human side recently- she's a Mannequin so she blends uh a bit better than me -anyway she said marriage was the human version of being mated so Sparda did that with a human female."

"He _mated_ with a human? Actually became mates with one?" You were just as disgusted; to become mates with another demon requires immense trust, loyalty and respect. Why would the Dark Knight give that to a human? Little wonder Sparda fled to the Human World all that time ago. _What a disgusting degenerate._

You were cut out of your musings to launch yourself backwards from tendrils of ice that attempted to snake around your ankles, speeding up the crystal to lash at your feet in frosty claws. Flapping your wings you shot up into the air, giving the Rusalka a dirty look at their failed sneak attack.

Both of them shrugged, grins on their luminescent purple faces as they said, "Worth a shot."

* * *

Thrust, dodge, dodge, thrust, roll-

You grit your teeth, nimbly rolling back onto your feet before hopping backwards to avoid being decapitated. Blood spilled down your chest, the results of a lucky slash of a machete the Hell Antenora had managed to snag you with. You had been fortunate it hadn't cleaved in your sternum but the blow had left you short of breath and bleeding, the blood splattering the floor making the stones beneath your feet extremely slippery.

It was a terrible location for a fight, the temple having low ceilings and narrow hallways so you couldn't take flight. The Antenora was between you and the exit, having snuck up behind you while you'd been ransacking the old chests at the end of the room. You'd found an amulet with a Flame Heart as the talisman and had been thinking about how to reverse-engineer one when the Antenora ambushed you. Luckily you'd take the blow across the chest rather than the spine where you could've been paralyzed but you were frustrated that you hadn't even noticed the other devil before it was bearing down on you.

You'd barely had time to toss the amulet around your neck and summon your rapier before you were in a full on fight with the Antenora, the hunch-backed demon hacking at you with its twin machetes as it hissed and snarled. You ignored the thick wound on your chest, which carved down diagonally across your sternum and along your breast, though inwardly you were annoyed because now you would have to make a new shirt, even as you did your best to avoid having a limb hacked off.

Steam hissed up from the wound as you leapt to the side to avoid a chop from the machete, taking advantage of the Antenora's over extended strike to stab it deeply in the shoulder joint to slice the ligaments. Its arm went limp and you jumped forward to land on the handle of the machete with both feet, intending to stab it through the base spinal cord. It jerked upright with its tattered hood fluttering as it twisted violently, knocking you off and sending you rolling across the ground. You shoved yourself away, not moving quickly enough to avoid a kick to the face which broke your nose with a meaty _crack_.

You scurried back on all fours before stabbing the Antenora through the ankle with your rapier, teeth bared as blood streamed down your face even as the Antenora dropped with a bellow of pain. As it fell over you slashed open the palm of your left hand with your claws, the swirling blood forming the seals for a fire spell which you then hurled at a watching group of Msira just outside the doorway. They scattered with furious shrieks and the smell of burning fur, claws scrabbling on the tiles as they fled.

However you quickly leapt towards the now empty doorway as the Antenora went berserk, the tubes across its body flushing violet as its enraged state activated. You ran for it, quickly dismissing your rapier, with the Antenora right on your heels as you sprinted through the narrow hallways of the temple. As you ran you heard more than felt your broken nose heal back in place even as the wound across your chest began to seal. Focusing you pulled the blood from your chest and mixed it with the wound on your hand, quickly writing a sigil for brontomancy in the air as you ran with the Antenora in immediate pursuit. 

As you ran between two pillars you quickly slapped the sigil onto the stone and crouched before clenching your thighs to launch yourself forward like a wild cat in a devil fueled pounce. Not a moment too soon the berserk Antenora mindlessly activated the sigil as it continued its pursuit, the resulting explosion of lightning taking out the two pillars in an explosion of energy and burning flesh. The Antenora stumbled with a bellow of pain, one of its legs blown off at the knee, before it went crashing headfirst into the ground to twitch sporadically.

You skidded around, feet and hands transformed into talons to skitter back towards the downed demon on all fours before leaping on the Antenora's back. Digging your hind claws into its spine you summoned your rapier and thrust the point right through its spine. Over and over you stabbed it, hot blood splattering up your front as you took advantage of its temporary paralysis, until it stopped moving and the purple haze around its body vanished as it died. For a moment you remained perched on the Antenora's back, hands white-knuckled around the hilt of your rapier, before slowly pulling the weapon free with a wet squelch before dismissing it.

With a tired grunt you rolled off the dead demon, the cuts on your hands healing with puffs of steam as you sat back on the ground. Your shirt was a mess and you tiredly plucked at the tattered remnants hanging off your shoulders.

You then went about harvesting the dead Antenora's body of orbs, most of them red but a few green which you absorbed into yourself baring a handful which you stuffed into your mouth to finish your healing. At least hunting in Hell meant you were slowly getting a large stack of orbs, crunching the crystallized blood between your teeth. There was the brief consideration of eating the Antenora but the smell and mutilated flesh put you right off it. You'll leave it for the scavengers to pick over. 

Tracking down a pool of water deep enough to wash the blood from you took some scouting after fleeing the temple completely, but eventually you settled down next to a shallow pond and scrubbed yourself clean of the stench of the Antenora. You shucked off your jerkin, scrubbing down your naked torso until the blood was gone even as your thoughts wandered back to the orbs you'd harvested as you were getting quite a few stored within yourself. 

Orbs could help with your seals and spell work you knew through tentative experimentation but you found it harder to fold the orbs into your magic than your own blood and fuel so during an actual fight it was far easier and quicker to just use your blood. Much like Devil Arms you could easily eat orbs even with your flat human teeth, red and green helping you heal while white and blue would help nourish your devil self. You hadn't yet found any purple, gold or yellow orbs yet and you were quite eager to find them so you could figure out how they worked. You were fairly sure Machiavelli had perfected the art of folding orbs into weaponry and a part of you was deeply aggrieved that the weaponsmith wasn't among the living any more, so you couldn't see him work. 

Gold and yellow were the most rare you knew, capable of jump starting a dying devil soul and bring someone 'back to life'. That had less meaning to demons due to all of your inherent magical nature but with creatures like humans you knew they were short lived beings made up solely of flesh with no magic or abilities whatsoever. 

_A pitiful existence,_ you thought even as you settled back on your hunches to haphazardly stitch your shirt back together, using a needle of pinky bone and threads of your hair. As you ripped another chuck of your hair out before braiding it together as thread, you eyed the tepid pool of water before sniffing. The small clearing you were hiding in was a fairly isolated part of Hell, looking like a largely deserted landscape of dunes dotted with the occasional oasis or temple. The sky was stormy clouds but there wasn't a breath of wind in this current place of the Underworld so you were relatively sure you could rest for a few hours.

Tying off one of the threads, you then brushed your fingertips against the honey-coloured stone resting against your throat; you wanted to learn about creating your own augmented items as sigils only went so far. Devil Hearts were the most common form, focused on powering up the basic three devil magic branches- fire, ice and lightning. You had noticed an increase when you used that fire spell on the Msira pack and were curious if you could someday make them as well. You weren't well versed in molding stone and souls though, besides using your own blood and bone, so it would have to be largely trial and error for you to discover if you had a knack for that particular craft. Augmenting magic stones was different magic from sigils, and even the blood stone on your rapier worked differently that a Devil Heart since the amulet was passive while your blood stone was a channel for your own abilities.

Shrugging your repaired jerkin back on you got back up to your feet, the Flame Heart warm against your skin. You wondered that, if you _did_ discover how to create your own version, then you could make one that would encompass the three branches of magic in a single Heart.

You cocked your head to the side, sensing the approach of a foreign demon energy. In the far distance you could see one of the huge dunes moving, a colossal fin appearing through the mountain of sand as a demon began to wake. Manifesting your wings you quickly took off into the air with a swirl of sand, white wings flexing as you swirled upwards before quickly flying in the opposite direction of the massive demon. 

An experiment for another time, then.

* * *

Half a year of being in Hell had made you a vicious thing, getting stronger, agile, faster, and honing your instincts as you spent so much of your time around threats and traversing the landscape. You had sewn a new outfit, harvesting skin over several days to get enough after finding a hideout to lurk in for a week. The time of relative safety- as much as there was in the Underworld -let you reinforce your new clothing, even if they remained a basic pair of pants and shirt but the infusing of sigils to provide better protection worked flawlessly, with you stitching in your blood-infused hair as arrays across the makeshift material. Most were defensive, helping you with elemental resistance but also helping suppress your scent and quieting your presence.

Being out in the wilds of the Underworld also gave you a new branch to run across in improving your seal work as you steadily discovered. Some was over random loot you found, like talismans and amulets you would study and pry apart to devour the charms and affects within but there were also books you would find if you searched about enough. You hadn't really had much luck in creating your own Hearts for amulets, most of the effects being far too weak to really be much use even if you kept wearing the Flame Heart you'd found previously. You had also found ice and electro amulets but you'd shorten them so you could wear them around your wrists as bracelets.

But Hell was rife with treasures and one such collection was of old grimoires, journals and carved slabs was located inside an underground grotto you'd wandered across; the place was immense, most of it being deceptively still, deep water and the roof being thick roiling storm clouds. Growing from the deep lake was massive trees so high their tops disappeared into the clouds and their trunks were the same size as the mansion you used to live in. Stretching through the lake were beaches and when you curiously inspected the ground you realized it was ash, not sand. You had taken shelter inside the enormous skeleton sprawled across the beach, the smallest tooth bigger than your entire body, and found the little cache inside the empty cranium.

A quick check revealed no traps or enemies though you could sense larger demons out in the immense lake including a Jokatgulm and Tateobesu but they obviously didn't care about your presence, muffled and small as it was so you felt safe enough to rummage through the pile of books. The skull clearly had been a lair of some sorts but from the lack of smell the original inhabitant had abandoned it for quite some time. There was a table, tall shelf and empty pots with a single chair carved from a strange dark wood you couldn't identify. There was also a lot of gibberish scrawled across the interior, most of it looking as if it were just rage fuelled scribblings with a great deal of swearing. You decided to ignore that and spend your time eagerly devouring everything within the books the moment you had a chance.

Seals were something which came to you naturally; for most it took decades of research to understand the basics, much less modification, but you had the innate ability to read seals. There was the overall shape, the circle which formed as the border then the inside shape which varied upon what you were attempting to do. You knew Lord Mundus had the substantial abilities of creation, both for artificial demons and realms, along with augmentation and elemental prowess. Your weakness was that you could only apply such things to yourself whereas your father could bestow them upon those worthy of his attention. Your half-breed nature failing you again but you focused upon sharpening these skills upon yourself in your time alone in Hell. You did theorize those bloodline abilities were why seal work came naturally to you, able to see past their overlaying complexities so they were easy to follow or edit as a by product of Lord Mundus' abilities of passed down augmentation to you. Since seal work was very much like that, embedded sigils with power to provide the intended reaction, you were a deft hand with them even if you couldn't augment living beings besides yourself but only if the intention was self modification.

Though you could draw sigils without your own blood you noticed the result was less powerful but through scrawling symbols upon the ground outside of your hiding place you figured they'd be a handy early warning system even if their current strengths the resulting explosion would only kill lesser demons like Critters. It would make a lot of noise though and catch smarter demons off guard which would be helpful in case of a potential ambush. The books you found inside the skull were handy in that regard, as each journal had differing ways of writing sigils or embedding them with power. Sometimes just little changes but others were all but alien from one another.

Summoning sigils were an entirely different art as the shapes inside the circle would embody the demon's true name. Though there were still links, as whenever you used a fire spell or created a fire sigil you were essentially writing the true name 'fire' and bringing it into being but with true names of living things it was rather difficult to ever determine it without being given the name. However it was near impossible to divine a devil's true name without it being given and even harder to write it down accurately. You always had a good control over yourself, intimately aware of your body and blood and bone, so after you finished the current book you were reading you turned your attention inwards towards your devil soul. Unlike humans demons weren't created with flesh as devil all were, from the lesser Empusa and Beelzebub, to the higher beings such as Sparda and your father Lord Mundus, magical beings. Humans had no such thing and the only way they could channel magic was through bastardization of devil magic through stealing it from a demon or powering it via a Devil Arm. But when it came down to a comparison between the two species demons were blatantly the superior.

You also knew there were celestial beings called 'Angels' but as far as you knew none had actually been encountered and their existence were highly controversial to speak about. What you _had_ read about angels were vague and it gave you the impression that they were more akin to constructs than actual living beings but as far as you knew there was no proof they even existed in the first place. It was probably something humans made up to comfort them about their useless, short lived lives.

But at the matter at hand, you wanted to understand your devil soul to find your true name which was something humans didn't have due to having no magic. Your demonic essence glowed bright and white, the aura shimmering and sliding across your skin in a sparkling mist. Your core was constantly flexing and shifting like a wild fire, soothing to all your senses and radiating out from your heart. It was entirely different to Lord Mundus' overwhelming, oppressive presence which left you shivering and sweat soaked as if the air itself had been bearing down upon you. His presence left you feeling skinned, flesh sensitive and twitchy, whereas sensing your own aura was comforting and soothing.

While there you spent some time meditating, using the innate skill over your own body to search through yourself to understand it better and realized you abruptly knew your own true name. Something you would never share with anyone. It was eight syllables. Twelve notes. A single sigil if you ever chose to write it down. It was not a name as any human could understand or speak aloud but something which encompassed your entire nature as a being, negative or positive. If you chose to write the sigil out truly it would probably cover the entirety of the hollowed skull you were hiding it and some of the beach, but it was also something you could compact down into a single symbol of hidden complexity. It was still young, waiting for age and experience to colour the rest of it but the under laying theme of yourself was the same and would always be since the past would never change.

You'd never be so foolish as to write your name down, the description of what you are as a being but you could visualize the sigil in your mind. To humans it would just look like a stylized bird within a circle; only one with any keen of seal word would understand the true complexity within each and every line.

It did make you wonder what Lord Mundus' true name would be- he was so old and powerful it would no doubt be vast and intricate beyond your understanding. However like all devils it could be compact into a single sigil if one knew how and you knew that use of sealing was how humans could summon demons into the Human World, by invoking the devil's true name so pull them across the rift between worlds. You briefly thought if you could reverse summon, such as putting your name sigil somewhere in the Human World so if you were in Hell you could bypass the seals cutting the two realms from each other but just as quickly dismissed the idea since it would be too easy for someone nefarious to abuse it or to trap you. More powerful demons could break restraints or rules around summoning or being summoned but you were still very young and wasn't going to risk it.

You studied your mentally drawn sigil for a long moment, understanding most of the overlaying structure. Seals didn't work like words, if they were uttered aloud at all. You would only ever be allowed to state your true name aloud using your demon tongue through your devil soul and even then it would sound meaningless to a human. However you could understand the generalities within the seal, how certain sentences would consolidate inside your mind to portray certain aspects of it. Most were things you already knew, detailing your history and your origins along with powers but some directly spoke of your personality.

_Absolute faith, complete trust, unfailing loyalty._

That line upon your sigil made you pause, mentally studying the complex loops that made up the sentence. It wasn't attached towards Lord Mundus or any thing, it seemed to be a fairly disembodied sentence consolidated into the note along your sigil's lower aspect. Along the slope of the wings you could see your attachment towards the Prince of Darkness and your fanatical loyalty towards him but it wasn't relevant to that previous sentence which just seemed...there. On its own with no relevance to the rest.

Then for some reason you thought about the Dark Knight Sparda and his human mate. Is that what they had? Devils who mated with each other did so based on such trust and respect- but how could a normal weak human appeal so much to the Dark Knight that he took that step with her? Maybe that other devil had been right and Sparda had just wanted a pet to keep around but you were fairly sure humans were high maintenance pets if any demon actually wanted to keep theirs healthy and sane. However he'd also had crossbreed children with her as well so he must of had an actual attachment.

Then again Lord Mundus was your father and he'd never offered you the same regard.

Immediately you scolded yourself for that blasphemous way of thinking and shoved away that entire line of thought and any thoughts of your soul sigil from your mind. Forcing yourself to focus back on one of the leathery books, you quickly submerged yourself back into the seal work of a long dead devil and how to refine you elemency.

* * *

Your devil form was changing with your adolescence and prolonged stay in the wilds of Hell. The golden scales had hardened, becoming gleaming armour protecting stomach, inner thighs, the underside of your tail and your throat. They'd also spread up your arms and legs, whereas previously they'd only covered your hands and feet the scales and thick skin now finished at your elbows and knees to provide further protection. A soft luminescence golden glow began to seep through the edges of your scales as your devil soul steadily gained strength. Your talons were long and sharp, able to slice through stone and while the hooked claws of your feet could easily crush bone in their grip. The tiny pebble-sized scales around your eyes also began to creep down your cheeks to link up with the thicker scales at your throat like an odd pattern of tears. Your eyes remained as they always had when using your devil nature; the scleras would become pitch black while your pupils turned a glowing white.

Your horns hardened, curling forward from your skull before arching out in a sharp point with the bases growing just above your feathered vulpine ears. They would be helpful in protecting your skull and shielding you from strikes to your eyes but you found out you could channel magic through your horns in a concentrated beam once it consolidated between the two tips. It took precious time to power that up however and the beam was weak and currently not much use beyond a shock attack but you hoped with practice it would become more powerful. Yet another thing you had to practice with and only worked in your demon form, which you could only keep up for nearly a week before reverting back into your human self.

The taloned thumbs along your arch of alula grew in length and sharpness. There was also a strange phenomena of your flight feathers which were slowly going transparent from the tip up as if they were becoming forged from ice. The transparency didn't interfere with your flight and if you touched them they felt as solid as every so you just shrugged it off. Your wings grew in size until their span was three times as you were tall and the white feathers shimmered slightly as if they were freshly laid snow. The black accents had a faint rainbow sheen to them as if painted on with oil.

It was becoming easier to change into your devil form even if keeping only your wings manifested was near effortless. You got extremely used to just having your wings while in human form and if need be you could use them as impromptu shelter, hardening the feathers even as your wings cocooned you. Sometimes you'd even use your tail to hang off things, dangling upside down like a bat as dizziness wasn't a particular issue with you so you found yourself having fun with experimenting or just playing around.

That was also another thing you still weren't used to, even six months later. It was that you were _alone_ , you didn't have to worry about your keeper swooping down you you for 'undesired behaviour' or being punished for yelling or screaming in pain or laughing. You were so used to being silent unless you were asked a direction question or in lessons so the fact you could be nosy or laugh without consequence was so new. Even after all those months alone sometimes if you scoffed to yourself or dropped something you'd tense, so used to getting a punch due to being so uncouth.

Perhaps it was rebellious but you reasoned that as long as you remained loyal to Lord Mundus there was no reason why you couldn't relax slightly in your mannerism. Especially when you grew bolder in approaching demons, offering orbs or valuables you found in exchange for their knowledge. The more intelligent demons didn't mind the trading though you were never so foolish as to let your guard down around them. One such demon was Esta, a withered old Baphomet. The goat-headed devil was wrapped up in robes that probably used to be purple, and along her fur-less arms were numerous symbols carved into the raw pink skin. Wrapped around her horns was decorated strips of leather with magic stones interwoven.

She had several Riots as pets, the scaly lizard hounds lounging around the gnarled garden outside her hut in a thick swampy land you'd visited. You had to go on foot inside the swamp mostly, as the trees that grew from the bog had thickly interwoven branches though you did like the sensation of mud and sludge on your feet as you crept through the mire. It was one of the reasons you never made boots for yourself, as the countless foreign sensations on your feet intrigued you. Growing up in a mansion solely made from cold unyielding stone left you fairly texture starved so you never really minded the muck.

Same for conversations as your keeper had always been cold and standoffish. Speaking with Esta was fascinating when you carefully approached the old goat outside her hut, along with any non-hostile demon you would come across and you'd offered her a fair portion of your red orb collection in exchange for her knowledge. She'd demanded to be paid upfront, which you had no issue with, and then she'd invited you inside her hut which was filled with books, plants and knick-knacks. She'd insisted on making you a cup of tea- and you'd subtly verified it wasn't poisoned when she checked her bubbling cauldron of bonemeal soup -and then the old Baphomet had settled down to begin her teaching. As it was you were seated across from her on a rickety chair made of bones, the table between you thick with demonic plants and materials as she walked you through the basics of alchemy.

"Alchemy, at its core, is all about refinement," Esta said in her croaking voice, "Be it maturing, amplifying or perfecting. It also encompasses transmutation or rather the fusion of foreign elements to make something whole. Most of it centers around potions and the like, making flasks of energy or poisons, explosives or resistance or Stars. You can change metals or create new chemicals provided you know what needs to be contributed. A thing you'll notice with alchemy is that there tends to be a lot of experimentation. And failures but you learn from those as well so eh."

"So humans predominantly use this?"

"Yes, they have no magic so they must make do with magical items or through stealing it from devils. Some also find magic forges to use but ultimately their magic must be stolen. So their 'witches' have a fairly misleading title."

You frowned; you knew there were demons called witches who solely used magic as weapons but you didn't know humans also used that title for themselves. You leaned forward, hands clasped on the tabletop as you asked, "So there truly no human mages? None at all?"

Esta scoffed, "Humans possess no magic whatsoever. Some may have little 'gifts' like divination, but to perform that they would need to use magical items regardless. Even for summoning it usually involves blood sacrifice or Devil Arms as they are as mundane as they come. However alchemy is _not_ magic, it is using magical items or understanding the exchange to create something new. One does not need magic to perform it. It's why any 'magic' humans you would encounter will never be their own. Their witches can create things to use but they don't use magic to do it. They must use spells and power it else where or through alchemy."

With slow movements the Baphomet pulled one of the small bowls on the table towards her before deftly plucking petals and twigs from the small plants next to her. Uncorking a bottle she dumped the thick fluid into the bowl and stirred it with a sharp claw before fishing out an eyeball from a nearby jar and squishing it into the bowl. She gave the concoction a sniff before pushing it towards you with an expectant look.

Tentatively you inspected the bowl, the thick soup inside smelling like burnt flesh and after a moment of study you guessed, "A blood clotting concoction."

Esta nodded, "Indeed. You have a good nose. As you saw I created this potion through combination- many would just call it witchcraft but its just a form of alchemy, through combining foreign ingredients to create something new. You cannot reverse the process in this, however, due to the lack of magic used to combine it. I can't take out the eye or the fruit or the fluid. It will now always be the potion so with this means you need to take more caution as it is easy to lose ingredients. But as you could sense I used no magic to create this. You _can_ use it to augment potions or have to use magical items but you do not need magic or be magical to do alchemy. So yes, any human 'mages' or magic users will just be using this type of magic."

"I thought they had things such as priests?" You knew there were demonic priests who were particularly powerful magic users, especially in terms of curses and hexes even if you found them long winded.

She burst out laughing, her jagged teeth glinting in the candlelight, "They aren't magical, human 'priests' are as useless as the next. They worship anything they deem a God and they think many things are a God. Just go to one of their churches and you'll see their stupidity. Despite being shown time and again their faith has no meaning to us, that their worship is a useless barrier to devils. But alas their memories are short and they never seem to learn though these church types typically keep records of devilry. It's also why so many keep on trying to get into Hell. At least it gives us meals from time to time."

You nodded, making a mental note as the Baphomet leaned back in her chair. You would have to explore a lot of the Human World when you were sent out there you would have to investigate churches and their ilk, at least to ransack any information they had. You knew a human priestess helped Sparda those millennia ago but she was used as a voluntary blood offering rather than mage.

The Baphomet dipped her horned head slightly, saying in a considering tone, "Not all humans are defenceless, however. As a whole they are stupid and slow but some learn. Some fight. Some think. A very select few yet you should be cautious of these so called 'devil hunters' for if you do make it to their world they will try to kill you. and many have died due to underestimating them. Humans may fail completely at magic so they must discover other ways to fight."

"I see. Is there a typical...template for these devil hunters?" you asked, leaning forward in curiosity.

"Well all humans look the same to me," Esta said, snout wrinkling as she sneered, "With their weird flat faces and set limb numbers. Ridiculous, none of them even have tails. Though these hunters typically rely upon firearms to fight, as they have turned to their 'technology' to survive. Human weapons like guns that shoot fast small projectiles or wide sprays of molten metal. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including some that can launch explosives like fire spells. Rare types these humans but you should be wary if you encounter one as their firearms have as much variety as Devil Arms. These hunters usually have preferences but when you cross over I would encourage you to take note of how humans fight. Your overall human skin will be an advantage however, nestling, as many have no understanding on how to detect crossbreeds. Do not ever underestimate the power of a first surprise strike."

You listened intently, curious about this new information. Most other demons were entirely dismissive as humans, viewing them as no more of a threat than a Critter. Just a convenient- if not squirmy -food source. Esta's warning of humans that actively _hunt_ demons deeply intrigued you.

"But enough about those things," Esta seemed to shake herself off, the stones dangling from her horns sparkling with the movement, "Back to the matter at hand. Now, I want you to identify the basic genus of Hell flora..."

* * *

You began to lose track of time, the shifting nature of Hell not giving any type of stability. Sometimes the light would go on for weeks, other times it was darkness. It all depended on where you were and what you were doing. Not being able to keep notes annoyed you, as you had to try and keep track of all the information just in your head but you remembered that stern lesson and wouldn't regress on it. Still, you tried your best to keep track of the places you visited and the geography of Hell. Many were barren and cold, or broken and choked with the stench of death.

But the Underworld was also beautiful, certain places making you feel in awe as you travelled through them. It was like when you were in the crystal caverns where everything shimmered with a prism of colours and now you were flying over thick lush meadows of yellow and orange dotted with sharp plateau hills. You knew the grass of the meadows was actually millions of blades of glass, with the colourful fuchsia trees with golden trunks actually being partially buried mimic demons with the submerged 'roots' being long thorn-covered tentacles ready to lash and grapple when any fool beast got within range, but the herd of Geryon grazing seemed like they didn't really care about those things and were happily munching away on the glass.

On top of the hills were ponds, waterfalls gushing over the sides through the thick purple bushes growing along the cliff sides and in the distance you could see gigantic snowy mountains that were so high their tops disappeared into the dark blue coloured clouds. You were in your full demon form, white wings spread wide as you glided across the land. You made sure to stay away from the clouds, sensing devils hiding up there, but otherwise the current environment was oddly placid. Or at least relaxed. Swooping down lower your gaze landed on the Geryon herd, noting the several small foals staying close to their mothers. The foals skin was supple and smooth, black like velvet as their hard silver scales hadn't grown in yet. Your sharp eyesight in devil form was good enough you could spot the details on the Geryon even as you glided above them; one of the adults, covered in thick scaled armour looked up at you and tossed her flaming blue mane in warning. Tilting your wings you swooped around, angling yourself away from the herd. As you passed over one of the trees it shifted slightly, glossy leaves shimmering as it titled up towards you and you saw the flicker of a golden eye embedded in the trunk as you flew over it.

Across the land you could see a gigantic Roc take flight from where she'd been perched on the edge of one of the plateaus, the colossal eagle's takeoff causing waves to splash free of the pond even as her inky black feathers became alight with lava and flame. Her shriek sounded like thunder and you heard an answering series of distant calls from the mountains. No doubt her flock and you felt a deep pang of longing in your gut.

You were small enough she could snap you up in a single bite but the Roc didn't seem hostile, her demon presence languid and calm towards you. Daring to get closer you angled your wings in her direction, studying her massive form as she flew at an unfetted pace; her hind claws were probably the same length as your entire body and a glittering pupil the same size as your head. Despite her vast size there was none of the oppressive aura that you felt around Lord Mundus, who was the only other colossal demon you'd encountered. instead you guessed the Roc saw you as such an insignificant presence she felt completely un-threatened by you which, fair enough. She could probably vaporize you in an instant with her fiery breath.

As it was the Roc just glanced at you as you tentatively approached, taking care to keep out of reach for the lava infused tips of her flight feathers as you flew up alongside her. The size difference was near comical and this close you could see the flicker of flames shimmering around her flaring nostrils and edges of her hooked beak.

"Greetings, cousin," the Roc said to you in a reverberating voice, even as her massive wing beats causing the air to swirl and buffet your feathers. She seemed more amused by your presence than anything.

You chirped back at her in a polite greeting, which made her split beak open in an avian smile before she banked left and took off at a languid pace towards the mountains. You trailed along behind her for a few moments, able to keep apace with her easily, before deciding to head back towards one of the ponds. The Roc steadily disappeared up through the clouds as she soared towards the mountains while you began to search across the plateaus for an appropriate place to bathe. It took several checks to find a pond that wasn't either acid or boiling, diving down to settle on the edge of the pond of water. 

Carefully you dipped your beak into the water, smelling it carefully to verify it wasn't toxic and that there wasn't a demon hiding in it. You then shifted back into your human form and, keeping your senses sharp, shucked off your clothing and slipped into the chilly water.

Nudity really wasn't something demons concerned themselves with so you weren't bothered being exposed out in the open, quickly scrubbing down your skin and cleaning it of dirt that'd built up before dunking your head underwater and washing your hair. Across the meadow the Geryon herd moved off to another pasture, with some snorting and hoof stomping at a tree which briefly menaced them. You settled back against the side of the pond, stone digging into your back as you sluiced the water across your arms and picked your nails clean of dirt and dried blood. 

Off in the distance you could hear faint yelling and one of the other ponds suddenly burst into ice as a slumbering Capricorn took umbridge with a pack of Stygian poking at its pool. There was a lot of hissing and cursing from the Capricorn as the fish-goat blasted the demon doll automatons with ice and frost, though they were far away enough you couldn't pick out the details. Below the plateau one of the trees took advantage of the turmoil to pull a tendril root free of the grass and snatch up one of the Stygians who'd fallen off the cliff edge.

You watched the distant fighting from your pool, cupping water in your hands before splashing it across your face and tasting it on your tongue before swallowing a mouthful. As you drank you thought about what you'd do later in the day as you were currently healthy and well rested. You should probably try your hand again with some of the alchemy combinations Esta had shown you, to try your hand at creating Stars or Hearts again or to branch out in your tentative potion making. Truthfully your first attempts at Stars was fairly terrible, resulting in one of your hands blowing up in a frosty explosion but at least you got a reaction from your experimenting. You'd probably do better if you tracked down a lab, since a lot of things were just carelessly abandoned in Hell or could set up your own little area to experiment in.

Then you felt a prickle at the edge of your senses and you'd spent too long to ignore your instincts so with a fluid movement you leapt to your feet, spinning around in the water while summoning your rapier which burst into frost along the length of the blade.

Your keeper stared at you impassively from where they were standing at the edge of the pond, looking exactly the same as they had a year ago when you had been sent into the wilds of Hell; fully cloaked with no skin showing, their eyes cold glints among the deep shadows of their hood. You stared back, completely caught off guard at seeing your keeper outside the stone mansion after a year of absence, their drab dark clothing in sharp contrast with the greens and oranges of the current landscape.

"Good," they said, voice just as cold and even as you remembered even as you hesitantly lowered your rapier, "You survived. Now it is time for the next step."

* * *


	4. She's a keeper

* * *

_It is a privilege to worship._

You knelt before the statue of Lord Mundus in supplication, gut still churning uncomfortably from the abrupt teleportation but knowing it was important to greet your father appropriately. Your keeper had told you those words at the age of six, when they emphasized how important it was to behold Lord Mundus and accept his splendor and judgement with your meager presence. At how you must make yourself worthy of his regard and the life he had granted you.

Even now the towering marble statue of Lord Mundus was saturated with the ancient demon Emperor's presence, the three eyes lit with a crimson light. The training hall was exactly as you remembered, cold hard stone digging into your knee caps and the palms of your hands as you knelt in supplication before the statue.

His presence was just as suffocating as you remembered even if this time he wasn't even physically present, feeling his demonic aura roll over you like thick molasses and making your clammy flesh to break out in a cold sweat.

"Your progress was acceptable and you survived adequately in a foreign and hostile environment," your keeper suddenly said from their bowed pose several steps behind you.

Lord Mundus seemed content to simply observe you in contemplative silence as your keeper straightened up at some silent signal, a flicker of their aura across your own making you unfold from your bent position. You looked up reverently at the statue, making sure not to make eye contact as you rose before directing your attention to your keeper.

"Yet there is one last test," your keeper said, "You will perform a final battle to see the extent of your skills."

"Of course," you accepted the stipulation without question, ready to serve. Ready to show you aren't worthless. Ready to prove yourself no matter what. Ready to show your father you would be worthy of your devotion to him.

Your keeper turned away with a final incline of their head towards Lord Mundus' statue, dark robes swirling as they pivoted in place. They walked to the center of the hall, their strides steady and purposeful before they faced you, eyes silvery glints in their hood. You gave a tentative glance to your father's statue before following your keeper to stand a few feet from them, facing off against one another as Lord Mundus' statue loomed over you both. The pale ever-burning flames in the braziers dotted across the walls gave everything a cold edge and you felt apprehensive about the final test of your skills.

But you had to stay true to your purpose, to live and die as Lord Mundus commanded. You were well rested, fully healed and your devil soul was the strongest it had ever been. You would rise to meet this new test or die trying.

A thought that proved to be a very true line of thought as your keeper raised one long arm to summon a long barbed spear into being with a twist of shadows. With precise movements they swung the spear around until it was resting along their side, body angled towards you and eyes as cold as ever.

"Defeat me and you will pass the test. This is a fight to the death, there is no compromise. Fail it and you shall die," you keeper said. They seemed entirely unconcerned they were also potentially facing their own death, their voice and stance not once changing.

Lord Mundus didn't offer any words, seemingly content to just watch the proceedings so after a moment of hesitation you summoned your rapier in a bloody mist. You'd never beaten your keeper in a fight, not even after a decade and a half of training. The most you'd managed to do was get a stalemate and even then you were sure your keeper had been restraining themselves. How could you hope to defeat them?

"I can use any of my abilities?" You finally asked, when it became obvious your keeper was waiting.

"Yes. Use whatever methods you deem necessary to defeat me," Your keeper said, "You must be willing to face death in an instant for our lord, with no hesitation. Just as you must be willing to use any means necessary to enforce Lord Mundus' will, unconcerned with the effects it may have upon yourself."

"I understand."

For a long minute neither of you moved, your keeper standing straight with their body slightly turned and spear held in a careful grip. In the grand scheme of things your keeper was older and in many cases experience won out over potential. It was why ancient demons such as your father were so feared, as surviving for so long meant they were exceptionally powerful to go so long without being killed and gained experience from it. A master would a spoon could easily as kill a novice with a master Devil Arm. You were strong but you were still an adolescent and you tightened your grip around the hilt of your rapier as sweat slid down your neck. Both from the upcoming fight and Lord Mundus' constant watch upon you.

Now the two of you were waiting, poised for the first movement. For the first indication of an attack. Your keeper had a specific rhythm to their fighting you noticed over the years, short and brutal so you knew the quicker you finished the fight the better.

_Do not ever underestimate the power of a first surprise strike._

Esta's words rang through your mind, the old Baphomet's advice making you rapidly flit through a list of techniques you'd learned while on your own in the Underworld. On things you could do to catch your keeper off guard. 

In a swift motion you decided, sliding your legs apart in a bracing stance as you pulled your rapier up to eye level with one hand gripping the hilt and the other cupping the blood jeweled pommel. In the same instant you channeled your devil soul as the fuel through the crystal and thrust the rapier in the direction of your keeper, a thick jet of boiling blood engulfing the blade and shooting forwards with the force of a fire hose.

The jet of blood was electrified, as you correctly judged your keeper was experienced enough to dodge the abrupt long range attack so the arching tongues of lightning still managed to lash against them as the other devil ducked to the left. You lunged forward, covering the distance between you both in a single bound and thrusting the bloody point of your rapier. Just as before your keeper dodged, the singed edges of their robes filled your nostrils with a burning scent as they pivoted sharply in place.

Summoning your wings you yanked them up as a shield, hardening the feathers so the barbed spear point skidded off the white plumage with a splatter of sparks. Cupping your wings around yourself you spun around in a blur, manifesting your tail to lash out like a scythe to which your keeper leapt up and kicked your cupped wings, ignoring the sharp feathers which sliced into their feet as the blow knocked you backwards. 

Your feet turned to claws as you dug long talons into the stone to avoid falling over, wings slamming down as an anchor as you swept your rapier in an arc; blood sprayed, igniting into flame as the Heart at your throat pulsed in a honeyed light as you beat back your keeper's advance with a curtain of blazing blood. Boiling droplets splattered across their arm, eating through the fabric to melt through flesh but your keeper didn't even flinch. Instead they ducked under your next strike and struck you in the joint of your left wing, breaking it in half and forcing you to dismiss the now useless limb.

Skipping backwards you hissed through clenched teeth, your keeper keeping apace with your retreat so you molded the blood on your free hand into an ice spell and hurled a cluster of diamond hard icicles at them. They leapt over the barrage with the grace of a panther, swinging down a long leg in a downwards blow that you barely dodged. The impact shattered the stone beneath their heel, but before they could straighten up you skidded around behind them and managed to plunge your rapier through their back.

Ignoring the blow your keeper yanked their arm back, taking advantage of the length of their spear to crack you in the side of the head with the armoured end hard enough it fractured your jaw and made your ears ring. You stumbled to the side and was too slow to avoid a punch to the chest as you keeper twisted around, the blow of which knocked the wind from you.

This time you did fall over and you keeper was right on top of you, gripping their spear in both hands as they slammed it down after you as you fell.

The spear point punctured through your breast, sinking through muscle and bone to cut open your lung as they pinned you down, driving the spear point through you so hard it burst out your back and through the stone below. Luckily it missed your spine but you could already feel the blood pooling through your now punctured lungs to suffocate you as you choked.

Rather than wait for that to happen you drew the blood filling your lungs up through your esophagus to vomit out a mouthful of blood you forced to boiling point, spewing the crimson spray directly at your keeper from where they were still pinning you down. They dodged an instant too slow and the boiling blood ate through the side of their face like acid, the stench of burning flesh filling the air. Taking advantage of their recoil you ripped your rapier free even as ice swelled from the blade to blacken their insides with rapidly spreading frostbite.

You keeper recoiled, their breathing heavy in a way you hadn't heard before; a portion of their skull and face was melted away, liquid flesh and bone dripping down to the floor as the rancid smell choked the air and their movements were less fluid and sure. You spat at them, blood droplets flaming and burning through your lip as you hurled yourself at your keeper. Your sword point missed as your keeper parried with their spear and the two of you traded a series of blows, steam billowing up from your wounds as you healed more rapidly than your keeper as you devil soul rose rampant under your skin in a shimmery white mist.

Taking advantage of the countless splattered pools of your blood on the floor, you stomped your foot on the nearest puddle and the wet redness turned into slick ice with jagged tips like glass. Your keeper didn't even flinch as their feet got impaled but there was a momentary hesitation as the ice interrupted their stance. You stabbed them through the side, ducking a spiked spear head as you channeled lightning through your blade to send their muscles into controllable spasms. They nearly dropped their spear but their discipline was too entrenched, instead twisting around to smash a sharp elbow on your head to knock you away with a broken nose.

As you stumbled backwards the barbed side of the spear struck your over extended wrist, snapping the bone with a _crack_ and making your entire forearm go numb. In retaliation you sank your teeth into the spear length, your aura spiking violently as your devil soul bristled and the sharp increase of your bloodlust cause the spear to shatter between your fangs. 

In the depths of their robes your saw your keeper's remaining eye widen as they leapt back even as you spat out the splinters of the spear from your mouth.

With a wordless snarl you dismissed your rapier, seizing your broken wrist with your other hand and tore off the appendage with a sound akin to wet cardboard ripping. Using the blood which sprayed forth from the ragged stump you clenched your fingers around your severed hand as you quickly inscribed sigils fueled from your blood and rampant devil soul across the still twitching flesh before hurling it at your keeper like a baseball. 

The severed hand exploded with the force of a grenade as your keeper made the mistake of instinctively batting it aside with their broken spear, the resulting explosion of frost, fire and lightning knocking them back onto the floor and blowing off their arm at the elbow and sent a dozen icicle shards through their chest.

With a harsh scream you launched yourself forward, the blood pumping from the stump of your hand consolidating into a hand made of boiling blood as you summoned your sword to seize your rapier in both hands as you leapt at your downed keeper while your devil seized on the fact the enemy was downed, was _vulnerable._ Your legs were fully transformed into their demon state, hooked talons sinking into your keeper's shoulders to puncture through fabric to sink through flesh and breaking bone. Your keeper was unable to knock you off, partially transformed as you were so you twisted around and sank hooked fangs into your keeper's remaining hand and bit it off. Your wings materialized with the boost of foreign devil flesh, fully healed and you used the hardened flight feathers to impale your keeper's legs to the stone to keep them pinned in place.

You jammed the point of your rapier through your keeper's head, the sharp point puncturing them directly between the eyes until the blade burst through the back of their partially melted skull. The swirling mass of frost, fire and lightning shrieked down the bloodied blade and the resulting blast sent you flying. You hit the ground and went rolling, parts of your wings missing and a hand partially melted to the hilt of your sword. 

For a long moment you lay there dazed before forcing yourself back up to your feet, dismissing your rapier after a futile moment of trying to pull one of your hands free while your blood-formed one consolidated back into flesh and bone. You swung around back towards your keeper, bloodied fangs bared and eyes flashing demonic white only to stare in shock at the black bladed sai lying in the crater your final attack had made, resting in a pool of blood where your keeper had been.

Tentatively you approached the newly appeared Devil Arm, your nose cracking back into place as you jumped down into the small hole. You carefully picked up the short weapon and studied it closely, gaze running along the narrow dagger-like blade and the two curved prongs that were set from either side of the handle. It was a gleaming black except for the series of silver stones set in a neat row up the hilt and you felt a muted echo from the weapon before it fell completely silent.

 _I won._ You felt your lips twitch as you stared at the Devil Arm, fighting back a victorious smile as your injured wings hiked up. _I won and proved myself._

Then you remembered your manners, stumbling around to crawl out of the hole and across the floor even as you shifted fully back into your human form before falling to your knees before Lord Mundus' statue which still had its watchful crimson stare focused upon you. In your gore stained hands the sai's set of stones shimmered faintly as you settled down on the blood slick stone, head bowed down before the statue.

You remained kneeling long enough your injuries healed and the blood stopped dripping from your nose, breath evening out and devil sliding back down deep within you.

Then you felt Lord Mundus' aura wash over you like a black abyss, creeping across your skin and engulfing your senses before sliding away and leaving you breathless with anticipation.

"Good," Lord Mundus finally said, deep sounding pleased and you felt a thrill shoot up your spine as the demon Emperor praised you, "Your tainted blood has not made you entirely worthless. Now you can begin apace with my plans."

* * *


	5. Devil's Dalliance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (this ain't based on the Definitive Edition timeline, I'm just nicking some characters and locations 
> 
> And I know people just wanna get right to Vergil but one thing I've learned with writing fanfic is that I'm 100% awful at writing short fics so yeah, slow burn tag is very much relevant lol

* * *

You didn't like Lilith. She smelled rancid somehow, like meat left too long in the sun. Her human face was oddly shaped, high cheekbones and red painted large lips that were pulled back in an insincere smile that seemed more like a grimace.

After winning your fight with your keeper you hadn't been given time to rest before being taken to a summoning conduit. Lord Mundus had assessed it as acceptable before informing you of your immediate transportation to the Human World. Tasks would be assigned that you must complete, to take advantage of your human state and knowledge of seal work. Of course Lord Mundus wouldn't waste such time elaborating with you, much less explaining his own plans or intentions after he acknowledged your victory, so barely a minute had passed after killing your keeper before you were ripped through the portal and yanked between worlds.

Lesser demons could cross through to the Human World through such means without true gates but devils with powers such as Lord Mundus were too strong to make use of these diminutive access points. They were more like tiny cracks in the wall of a dam, something only small droplets could slide through while still holding back the sea. To summon a demon like Mundus would require an incredible amount of power and even then the overall seals separating the worlds would prevent such a thing from coming to fruition.

With you, however, being as small and part human as you were it was far easier to get pulled through.

Minus a few bits and pieces.

"Welcome to Limbo City," the demoness waiting for you in the other world had greeted you with a cold smile that showed too many teeth. On the ground in front of her was five dead humans with their throat cut, blood spilling out to fuel the summoning sigil you'd been abruptly sucked through.

You grimaced, finger and toe nails missing to show raw flesh and red slowly leaking from your nostrils and the corner of your eyes. The skin on your palms and feet were gone, shaved away as if sliced off by a straight razor. 

Kneeling on the ground you carefully focused on healing your feet even as the stranger nonchalantly kicked aside one of the still warm bodies with her heeled shoes, the corpse hitting the room with a wet noise before sliding down limply. Once your soles mended you stood up, biting back a wave of vertigo and vomit, before you faced the new demon before you with curious eyes.

The devil resembled a human and she was wearing a short pale pink dress with long black gloves and waxy blonde hair that fell past her shoulders but you knew from a single sniff she wasn't some brainwashed lesser demon. Her eyes were too calm and rational for that, even if her aura wasn't deep or old. There was also a weird texture to her skin and an ugly stench lingered to her like a smog that made your lips curl.

Then you realized she wasn't wearing a proper magical glamour and had instead skinned a human and was wearing its pelt for a disguise. Done right and most wouldn't recognize a stolen human skin but her one was too loose and too rotten.

 _Explains the odour,_ you wrinkled your nose slightly. Then again she doused herself with some horrible stench that smelled like dying flowers so everything was just horrible nose-wise around her. It was a conflicting series of smells so you made sure to keep your nose to yourself around the older demon. _It's probably intention. A good tactic even if it's fairly...nasty..._

The demoness eyed you up and down, her expression making it fairly clear she didn't think much of you, before she said, "I am Lilith and I own this quaint little club. Well, we're not in the thick of things since you'd be kicked out for being underage- that's something you'll have to learn in this world -but we're in the private rooms of the hotel suite at the back so we won't be disturbed."

You inclined your head, accepting Lilith's words and fighting off a swirl of vertigo as you curiously asked, "A club?" You had a feeling she wasn't talking about a weapon.

Lilith laughed, even as she turned with a beckoning hand for you to follow her out of the room, "This place is Devil's Dalliance. Humans do enjoy their vices, so it can be remarkably easy to hide in plain sight and a club is a place for humans to indulge these things. They're social animals and enjoy a night on the town with liquor and music and whores and I am more than happy to provide. I am even gracious enough to slip a little extra in their drinks, to help keep them somewhat docile."

Softly you made a noise of agreement, following her down the hallway. The carpet was a lush red, a colouration Lilith clearly favoured with the walls being painted the same hue and golden accents along the ceiling and when you passed by one of the doors it was of a deep rich wood with golden numbers emblazoned on the front. The lighting along the hall was pleasantly dim and warm, reminding you of firelight even if you knew humans relied on electricity to power everything. Seems Lilith adapted to that to blend in.

"But you're not exactly the usual types I keep on hand," Lilith said, her hips swaying weirdly as she walked on her stilted shoes, "Some half-starved alley cat tossed in my keeping but ah well, I must suffer for our master's wishes. As we should. We'll find a use for you yet."

Per demon custom you kept two steps behind, to signal your passive acceptance of her being higher in the hierarchy. You politely asked, "So you are not to be my handler?"

Lilith snorted, "I'm not your mother, I'm not going to hold your hand and walk you through this shit. All I'll do is give you assignments and a place to sleep. That's it. Tend to your own wounds, I don't care. Die on the mission, I don't care. Don't bother me about crap that isn't important, you understand?"

"Understood." Easy enough then. You found you could tolerate being on your own, finding a comfort in isolation. Better than this human pelt wearing demoness who smelled like rotten meat and dying flowers.

From the back you could see the corset strings running down either side of her spine on the backless portion of her dress. The strings were threaded through the slightly saggy skin and you felt the sudden urge to tighten them for her.

"The club's most a front but it serves its purpose. Occasionally I dip a additional bit of 'magic' for the little humans and get myself a Spotter slave, though they're only useful as security hounds if some idiot Demon Hunter sticks their nose in," Lilith said as she rounded a corner, "This is mainly a font for information and consolidation for us loyal to the true King of Hell."

"Is Limbo City servant to Lord Mundus?"

"We have quite a few of us in high positions," Lilith said, tossing her hair and making it obvious the waxy blonde strands was a wig, "Though if you mean the city is under full demon control then no, that useless whore Sparda tended to ferret out that when he was still running about. Though you'll find humans themselves are pretty fucking stupid but you can't just go out and commit a mass slaughter without them noticing so do be discrete if you start getting itchy fingers would you?"

"Of course, I would never endanger any of Lord Mundus' plans or operations," you said. You weren't so stupid as to go on rampages. _What does she think I am, a Fury?_

Lilith abruptly stopped and turned, you stopping immediately at the movement. She eyed you carefully before suddenly reaching out and squeezing you cheek between her gloved index finger and thumb as she grinned, "Well aren't you just a precious little peach?"

You resisted the urge to slap aside her hand, just staring at the demoness as she tugged the skin of your cheek with teasing motions before she suddenly pried open your lips to inspect your teeth. She made a face at seeing your flat human teeth and you also resisted the urge to turn them into your hooked devil fangs to bite off the offending phalanges as she poked her gloved finger around your molars.

"You have _quite_ the human skin on, bit more finesse than mine isn't it? But that's part of your use to our King," Lilith said before pulling her finger free of your mouth.

The material of her glove left a nasty aftertaste on your tongue but you just continued to stare at her steadily. She didn't seem bothered by your lack of reaction, if anything she seemed pleased. Of course a wild and rebellious underling wasn't a help to anyone.

"Now, you'll have lodgings here in the suites. It's one of the top floors so feel free to just jump out the window when you have assignments if you don't feel like going out front," Lilith turned away and continued walking as if she hadn't just stopped to poke and prod at you as if you were some pet Critter.

"Is discretion required?"

"Should be, even if Sparda hasn't been seen for years. Last thing we need are idiot hunters poking around or the human 'law enforcement'. It just makes a mess of things. Though if you're hungry feel free to go out to the club and pick up any human of your choosing to take back. Just ring room service afterwards to clean up the mess."

"Won't the other humans notice?"

"There's a couple billion of them running around on this planet, you'd be surprised with what they miss or ignore especially if you're any type of authority," Lilith snorted, rolling her eyes dramatically., "Provided you are semi discrete and it's the only odd one or two. Butchering an entire neighbourhood would get attention but if its just a few then they don't really care. Honestly these creatures seem to have been _made_ to serve, with a natural predisposition to submit. It's delicious."

"Understood." So if you wished to hunt humans you would at least have to practice discretion. You did wonder if they would be a challenge and if so what kind, as you had hunted for your own meals in Hell and many demons had to be approached in different ways when being stalked. However humans only had a single type so you were quite eager to try hunting them.

Lilith stopped at the end of the hallway, in front of a lone door made of the same dark wood as the others with four golden numbers on the front. 

_1408_

"This is yours," Lilith said as she unlocked the door with a small golden key in an elaborate flourish, "It's at the back of the block so you can just leave through the window and get across the rooftops."

You nodded, not bothering to comment on how she knew that. Obviously this place 'Devil's Dalliance' was a hub of sorts for information and missions, and you guessed Sparda's disappearance was the only reason it as large as it was even if Lilith had hidden the true nature behind the front of a club. _Obviously they're growing bold in the Dark Knight's absence._

That just raised a lot more questions but you didn't have time to contemplate on it when Lilith pulled you into the room with a tight grip on your arm. You wrinkled your nose at her touch even as she shoved you into the middle of the lounge, before tossing the golden key at you with you deftly caught.

"These are your rooms," Lilith peeled her puffy lips back in a teeth-baring smile, "Or well, your room. Decorate them however you wish and if anyone other than myself tries to get in you're free to kill them. Though I'll be sending one of my little helpers along with clothes so if you need cleaning products they're down the hall to the left. After that, room service dear."

You looked down at your skin-made outfit with a frown, "Is there something wrong with my clothes?"

Lilith rolled her eyes, "You can't wear your skin here, pet. Humans take 'issue' with that along with a host of other stupid things you'll figure out. For now the whole 'dirty delinquent orphan teenager' shtick will work with you, so we'll go that route. For now go clean up, you smell and look disgusting. Also I'll send over clothing with hoods, you can't cut your hair for shit."

 _Not as bad as you,_ you thought irritably as she promptly shut the door in your face.

Lilith wasn't strong; you were fairly sure you could kill her in a fight and she didn't smell like Hell. You noticed, even after being in the Human World for only a few minutes, there was far less magic here and it clung to the demons in the Underworld like a second skin. It strengthened them, being magical creatures surrounded by magic so it sank into every pore and would cling to your breath. Lilith just smelled like rank meat, she obviously wasn't a sorcerer or magic wielder and considering how stuttering her aura was you guessed she was either Human World borne or hadn't been to Hell in so long her body had forgotten it.

Your keeper had alluded to your tasks when or if you succeeded through your training, about how they would be assigned or given to you. Of course Lord Mundus wouldn't waste such time upon a lowly half-breed as yourself, that fact he had even bothered to bless you with his presence twice was more than many of his underlings would ever encounter.

With a lurch you nearly fell over, shaking off the bout of vertigo with gritted teeth. You were exhausted, using so much energy in such a short fight and even now you could still sense your body healing inside- both from being impaled and from being pulled through the summoning circle.

You desperately needed sleep but you wanted to clean off the blood clinging to you first. So you took a quick look around the rooms, noting it was fully furnished and warm. You'd studied human 'living conditions' during your lessons to help assimilate to the Human World if you ever reached it, but it was another thing to actually be walking around in a typical human housing unit. There was no stone except for the marble benches in the kitchen and instead of a fire there was a thing you knew was an 'oven' which humans used to cook their food- they couldn't eat raw meat, you knew. There was also a fridge and it was pleasantry cold when you stuck your hand inside. Another means for humans to preserve their food as they liked to hoard it and knew no ice spells. 

Next was the bedroom and you cast a longing glance at the king sized bed and the very plush and soft blankets on top. You ran your bloodied fingers across the duvet, marvelling at the texture and the odd fabric it was made of. You never had blankets back at the mansion, you just had a bed of straw to sleep in. The rest of the bedroom was large, with a empty wardrobe and drawers. There was also a large painting of a human ship on a turmoil sea above bed which you sniffed at curiously; it wasn't painted in blood and had a slightly sour odour to it.

The bathroom was also elaborate, gleaming white tiles with a deep tub that took up a quarter of the room and a glass-encased shower on the other side. You resisted the urge to run a bath, as your exhaustion meant there was a high risk you'd accidentally drown yourself in it. 

There was a large full body mirror taking up one of the walls and you eyed yourself sceptically in the glass; your shirt was hanging off your shoulders, your keeper's spear having torn apart the strings keeping it together. Blood still caked your chest and when you pushed a hand against the centre of the stain you could feel a dull ache as your body slowly healed itself. Your keeper's spear head had been barbed, serrated. Something intended to cause horrendous wounds if punctured through the body and it had been torn out roughly by them when you'd puked boiling blood at them. That, combined with your exhaustion and further injures being summoned meant you were still sore. Even a check of your hands showed only now were your nails regrowing back, the beds puffy and red.

It matched the red on your face, dried blood sticking to your cheeks and lip while your chin was completely red from your blood vomit. Little wonder Lilith found it so funny to look at you; you certainly had the look of someone who'd been put through a lot of crap and barely crawled out.

Though you didn't understand Lilith's comment about your hair; yes you had chunks missing and a fairly lopsided cut but it was just hair. Whenever you needed it for spells you'd just grab a handful and hack if off without a care as to how it would look. Would humans really be bothered by such an inane thing?

Shaking that off you instead shuffled over to the shower, slowly tugging off your ruined skin-made clothes before settling them alight. They flared orange and white before being scorched into nothingness. No point clinging to them if they wouldn't let you blend in, though a part of you was miffed that you had to destroy them since you'd spent so long working on the seals and augmenting them. You reasons you could stitch new seals on the clothes Lilith would give you and forced that to the back of your mind as you turned on the shower, putting a hand under the spray until it ran warm. If it was a bath you could have easily heated it with a fire spell but you knew humans relied in technology for pretty much everything due to their mundane status. Still, you weren't complaining about having a shower, for as soon as it became lukewarm you stepped into the shower and letting the water quickly soak through your hair and cascade across your skin.

You were still exhausted from your fight with your keeper, for even though you'd healed your had forced your body and devil to the limits to win the fight and certainly hadn't escaped unscathed. Not to mention you had been severely injured with your sternum splint open and numerous internal organs ruptured. Though you had healed it was still a sharp burst of energy especially after your year long foray into Hell.

Tipping back your head you let the warm water run across your face, scrubbing your hands across your neck as you slowly shed the layer of dust and blood what clung to you like a second skin. A year in the Underworld left you at sixteen years of age; not bad, considering your lifestyle growing up. Even now you could feel the cold aura of your keeper's Devil Arm inside yourself, the sai as easily absorbed within yourself as the orbs you'd harvested while freelancing in Hell. They weren't assimilated with you and you knew all devils had this type of 'internal inventory' which did make it extremely convenient to carry things around with you- all within reason, of course.

But still, you had passed the test. You had killed your keeper and had been granted access the Human World. Now all you had to do was fulfil your master's wishes as best you were able, to prove you weren't a waste of resources and was worthy of the blood running through your veins as muddied as it was.

Shuddering you leaned forward, pressing yourself on the slick tiles of the bathroom wall as water slid down your nape and along your back. Pressing a hand against your sternum you ran your fingertips up and down the bare, unblemished skin; not a scar remained from being run through with a barbed spear which had split tones and torn organs even if you sensed inside your healing was still at work. Still, there wouldn't be a reminder left upon your flesh.

It was a nice thought.

You fell asleep like that, only waking up as you sensed someone enter the living room of your new quarters. Your eyes snapped open, the iris glowing white as you pushed yourself back off the tiles. Cocking your head to the side you listened to the faint movements outside the bathroom, switching off the water and inwardly cursing the thick condensation and heavy air as you stepped out of the shower.

Then your sleepy mind registered the complete lack of devil presence from whoever it was, followed by the person leaving as near quietly as they entered.

_Oh right, Lilith mentioned clothes._

Your bristling eased, shaking it off as you scolded yourself; this place wasn't your lair, it belonged to Lilith and she had offered you succour simply due to the same master you served. You had no right to criticize her or demand things from her, though another part of you noted she _had_ given you permission to kill anyone who entered your room. The entire club was suffused with Lilith, letting any demon with senses worth a damn know who it belonged to. Despite the blithe comment you weren't going to provoke a response so soon, to push so quickly.

Trying to sooth yourself you dried yourself off with one of the towels hanging from the warming rack, though you were intrigued by that they were made of since they weren't any type of pelt you were familiar with. Perhaps the Human World had a far different set of fauna you were used to? Yes, that had to be it. You made a mental note to investigate it further as you wrapped the towel around yourself.

You still had your Heart amulets, the Flame resting against the hollow of your throat while the Frost and Electro lay against the backs of your wrists on their plain brown leather straps. As you ran your fingertips across the blue and white laced stone you sleepily wondered if it would be possible to create a single Heart that embodied all three of those elements simultaneously.

A thought for another time as you were exhausted and just wanted to sleep. As you left the bathroom you found a fairly large pile of clothes on the living room sofa, most of them neutral hues and with not one type of armour. You guessed that humans didn't wear armour too often for it to be acceptable for everyday wear. However when you beat over to inspect one of the dark leather overcoats you nearly nosedived into the couch, which made it rather clear it was time for sleep.

Despite that you made sure to sketch a boundary seal on the door, wincing as you pulled blood out from underneath your fingernail to imprint on the wooden door. It was sloppy enough you would have gotten a beating from your keeper but it would make do in a pinch. You also added two small seals of frost on the floor, in case someone tried to break in. You did the same for the lone window in the lounge, briefly peeking out curiously at the brightly lit, foreign landscape of buildings outside the window before pulling the curtains shut.

Once that was done you dragged yourself to the bedroom, pulling the blankets free to make a lumpy nest in the middle of the mattress with exhausted, slow movements. Once satisfied with the results you dropped your towel and clambered up on the bed, transforming into your devil form with a shimmering white mist. You settled down on the plush fabric, claws catching on the material as you shifted about before curling your long tail around yourself even as you tucked your head beneath a wing.

And within seconds you were asleep.

* * *


	6. The Human World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm playing very loose with devil lore in this due to the fact we don't...really have a lot of canon actually exploring this. Same for how human society even functioned along side actual magical beings running about, so I'm making up shit as I go since hey it's vague af anyway and canon barely goes anywhere
> 
> With human history it's gonna be largely based off 'our' world's history, so basically a lot of events from A.D to current time happened in the DMC universe, just with a lot of demon interference and drama but it will largely be the same since it was around 2,000 years when Sparda split the worlds apart and humans were civilized during that era and the A.D matches give or take a bit so the Roman Empire and that happened still in this AU. Times _before_ the two millennia of the separation still happened but there's a lot more 'wtf happened here' since demons trashed so much and humans were basically running/fighting for their lives, but they'll have relics from that age like Greek statues and the pyramids and the Sacred Wars occurring but they're far more heavily tainted by demonic influence and interference. Like instead of those dumbass conspiracy theorist being ALIENS MADE THE PYRAMIDS it's more like pointing fingers at demons  
>    
>  ~~Seriously Capcom give us more fucking lore im dying~~

* * *

The Human World was very peaceful, you quickly discovered.

While in Hell you always had to keep an eye on the environment, senses always alert to any potential threats. To which there were _always_ a devil lurking, ready to take a snap out of you if you let your guard down for a moment. And if it wasn't a fellow demon then it was the environment itself and dangerous weather.

It was actually fairly disturbing and, in an odd way, made your paranoia even worse. The fact you couldn't sense the innate auras of humans also contributed; with demons, auras were their life force but could also be used to sense others within a certain close range radius along with showcasing their strength and vitality. It also helped portray a devil's intention as it would easily broadcasting a demon's moods and general emotions, usually showing if one was violent or calm. It was how you could sense the lack of hostility in the Roc you'd encountered back in Hell and vice versa. You always had an immensely high perception in terms of reading with your aura and those around you so the sudden quiet was disturbing and oddly isolating. Even while on your own in Hell you could still sense the distance pulses of other demons but now there was nothing.

Your senses with your aura was sensitive and most really only used it in close quarters for intimidation tactics. Sharp spikes of emotion could also cause flares of it, especially they were negative or violent emotions. Smarter demons could usually sense this and it had served you well in your foray into the Underworld when you encountered a hostile, powerful demon. Sensing their aura was a way to roughly judge how strong they were so it let you figure out when to cut and run.

Though a lot of demons didn't practice mercy and fleeing usually just translated into 'vulnerable and 'chase', with only the swiftness of your wings getting you to safety.

But the only downside to this way of manifesting your aura was that if you were attempting to hide or be sneaky, using your aura would instantly alert any nearby intelligent demons to your presence. Stupider ones would just know there's another demon nearby but not where or how strong they were. It was why the likes of lesser demons would attempting to brawl with the far stronger ones since they were too dumb to have any sense of self-preservation and simply acted on instinct. 

Stronger demons however, ones which actually had sense rattling around in their brains would take heed of this. Though bloodlust and arrogance, pride and violence would usually result in many not wanting to turn away from a fight. Especially if the opposing demon was close to equal in strength. You had more self-preservation however and felt not shame in fleeing from a fight if it mean certain death otherwise.

Unless you were ordered to of course.

But still, it was a way to judge fellow demons and their position of strength. Lord Mundus' aura had felt like needles on your skin, all encompassing, it made your break out in a cold sweat at having your aura so easily stifled and enveloped by another. It made it very obvious the Demon Emperor was far above any devil you had met before, with none other having the same oppressive, overwhelming aura to them as he did. It showcased how incredibly strong he was and how small you were in comparison.

Now however humans lacked any magical presence, they were just mundane meat which caused your hackles to rise.

After waking up the day after you were abruptly summoned to the Human World you had been giving a 'lieu day' as Lilith said. This was after the other demon had started bashing on the door and screeching 'Open the fuckin' door!' while you had been investigating the clothing heap in the couch. Turned out Lilith couldn't even get through the basic ward you'd set up, which you quickly deactivated to let her inside.

She seemed to just be ranting for angers sake before informing you to familiarize yourself somewhat with human society and customs. Much like your knowledge of the Underworld you'd had fairly extensive lessons about the Human World and knew much of them but actually implementing them would be a different story. Getting a fairly basic comprehension would as Lilith pointed out you would be a covert agent, an assassin and a spy.

"Acting like the biggest fucking idiot tourist would ruin that little game," Lilith had said, reaching out a red-painted fingernail to poke you on the nose, "So go explore the city for the day but get back here before tomorrow's sunrise. Human's can track their sunrise and sunset here so get up to snuff on that."

She'd then said for you to check the cupboards and cabinets in the bedroom to get human currency and a cellphone to contact you. Then she started to rant on about how eager she was to help bring about Lord Mundus' plan for the world and talking about how Devil's Dalliance provided a valuable font of information for his legions and to keep an eye upon the humans within the city and beyond. That felt like shameless shilling to you and you watched her gush with concealed distaste.

It also became very apparent Lilith had never even met Lord Mundus as she had grudgingly admitted you would report your mission results to a different demon, who would carry on the news to the Demon Emperor. So you felt some vindictive pleasure that you'd met the Demon Emperor while she never had, especially as she started ripping into your appearance again and bringing up your half-breed status. Though she only knew you were a hybrid, not your actual lineage as the filter held true. A spiteful part of you felt Lord Mundus would look down at Lilith in scorn, at how weak she was and so obvious her disguise. No finesse whatsoever.

Then you inwardly scolded yourself for daring to think you would know how the King of Hell would behave.

"And don't walk around naked, humans get bitchy about that," Lilith had added, nodding towards your unclothed state before leaving you alone.

You scoffed at that; Demons didn't really care about nudity but it was a major _thing_ with humans, you already knew. You didn't need to be told that, the only reason you didn't bother with clothes was due to exhaustion and also knowing Lilith wouldn't care when you answered the door without any. Most demons would rely upon their naturally accruing armour, from thick skin and scales to fur and chitin as clothing. Others, if they had a human form, would simply create outfit up out of their own magical energy or like Lilith would make their own pelt or glamour to hide in plain sight.

There wasn't a need for Lilith to scold you like a nestling, as if your keeper hadn't done their job.

That thought made you pause. After a moment you summoned the sai into your hand, the Devil Arm's hilt cool against your skin. Some Devil Arms, you learned, were fairly interactive and responsible despite being static weapons. But from your keeper all you could detect was coldness as if you were holding a weapon of ice.

You stared at the blade, watching the light rippled over the sharpness before pressing the tip against the flattened palm of your opposite hand. Easily it punctured your skin and muscle, sinking through until the blooded tip pushed through the back of your hand. Pulling the weapon free you watched steam coil up from the wound before the flesh knitted itself back together. You licked the blood from your hand before turning your attention back to the sai; the blood had already been absorbed by the gleaming blade.

For a long moment you stood there, staring at the weapon that used to be your keeper. The demon who had raised you, had been your sole company for a decade and a half, had taught you everything you knew, had broken your bones and severed your limbs, had coached you on the enigmas of seal and sigil work, who had been the one to watch you grow.

And you felt nothing.

Just pleased to have defeated them in order to gain Lord Mundus' regard.

With a brief red mist you dismissed the Devil Arm, feeling it settle back into your internal inventory with the plethora of orbs and your rapier before turning your attention to the pile of clothing. You had reconnaissance work to do.

From there you rummaged, picking out clothes you liked and putting them off to the side. There were also the underclothes- _why did humans have so many layers?_ -which for some reason were all bright colours. You didn't get that either since they were _under_ wear but didn't actually mind the brightness as you picked a bright red set speckled with black dots. Then it was green cargo pants and the black trench coat that smelled wonderful and was made from a leather you weren't familiar with. You picked those two due to their dark colours since you would have to blend in somewhat, to not draw attention.

However you couldn't resist the urge to pick the crimson tee-shirt to go underneath. You had always felt a strong connection to the colour red; the mansion you'd spent most of your life in had been all grey-scale, made of dull grey stone while your keeper had been cloaked in black. The only colour that would split the dullness would be the vibrant red of your blood as it spilled on the stone. As it coated the weapons you trained with, stained your lips and dried around your fingernails.

Red, the colour of your blood and so very familiar. A comforting hue.

You took the clothes in hand as you had another shower, a quick one to scrub yourself down. You avoided the scented soaps and lotion for your hair and body; no point in making yourself easier to track. Afterwards you dried yourself off with a simple heat spell before pulling on the undergarments, pants and shirt before re-tying the Hearts around your wrists and throat. Once done you cut off the first digit of your pinky finger, pulling out the bone and molding it into a small bone needle.

Then you settled down back on the couch in the lounge, hacking off several clumps of your hair though this time you tried to be more even with the cutting after Lilith's remark. You still didn't get what the big deal was, it was just _hair._ Who cared if it were messy? It wasn't like you were a Gorgon.

Though you had a means for it as you carefully began to stitch seals into the inner fabric of the trench coat with the needle and threads of your hair. Sigils of elemental resistance and scent dampening, of neutrality and stealth. This time you were able to focus more energy and time into the seals than you had back in Hell, humming softly under your breath as you threaded the bone needle through the fabric with calm, even movements. 

It took you the better part of an hour, as you took your time to make the seals as perfect as possible. Though you made sure to keep them on the inside of the jacket to be hidden, just in case you passed someone outside that could recognize seal art. Not likely due to the mundane nature of the Human World but you weren't about to provoke something by being careless.

Tying off the final strand of hair you smoothed your hands across the soft, cool fabric of the trench coat's inner surface before shrugging it on. Then, after some hesitation, you pulled on a pair of socks and one of the set of boots left for you. The ones you picked had heavy soles and smelled the same as the coat, for though you would have preferred being barefoot you knew it wasn't typical human custom.

Though you did make a seal of blood to infuse into the soles, sinking into the leather that would hopefully help muffle your footsteps. Personally you weren't sure how your seals and sigils would work in the Human World, but hopefully they'd work as normal. 

Then you'd put away the rest of the clothes, stuffing them fairly haphazardly in the bedroom along with nearly standing on your room key you'd forgotten about which you hastily attached to the leather cord of the Flame Heart at your throat. Then you found the money and phone as Lilith mentioned. You then spent ten minutes reading the small booklet with the book, playing with the buttons and checking the apps. You had no contacts but wasn't bothered as you were sure Lilith and co knew the phone number so you put it in your pocket and stuffed the money into your coat pockets. You weren't too sure of the human currency rate so you just picked the notes with the highest number- in this case several wads of '100's wrapped together which you hoped were enough.

Tying your coat belt tight around your waist you then left out the back window, clinging to the windowsill before scribbling on a barrier sigil then launching yourself from the wall backwards to somersault onto the adjacent building's roof.

For a moment you stood there, peering curiously up at the sky; it was a bright blue with puffy white clouds. The sun warmed you, unlike several times in the Underworld where the 'sun' there would occasionally get ferocious enough it would start to scald your skin if you exposed yourself too much. In the parts of the realm which had a sun, of course.

Here though you knew the sun was fixed. You'd read about the Human World and how its realm was a fixed 'Solar System' as the humans called it, with a singular planet rotating around a fixed sun with a single moon with some empty planetoids. You were moreso used to the ever changing realm of the Underworld, which wasn't isolated to a single sphere since it was predominantly formed of magic to an extent powerful demons could influence the very environment with their very presence or will.

With the Human World it was stagnant and...calm. You weren't sure if that was the right word for it, but when you dropped down from the rooftop into an alleyway and then tentatively crept out to the street it was really the only word you could think of. The sidewalk was full of humans going about their business, with the foul-smelling metal contraptions called 'vehicles' driving on the street. You tugged up the hood of your jacket, tucking your hands into its pockets as you began to slowly walk down the footpath while eyeing the humans curiously.

Demons weren't tolerant of limited personal space; only kith and kin would be permitted within arms length but humans were either far more lax or stupid. It was hard to tell as the humans didn't even notice anything unusual about you as you walked along next to them. 

Even when you intentionally bumped into a human it barely spared you an irritated look before carrying on their way, looking back down to the phone in its hand. If you'd done that to a demon it would've led to a fight or at the very least some snarling. Now the humans passed close to each other on the sidewalk and you had to resist hissing at several humans as you walked. Instead you kept your breathing calm, studying how they moved and occasionally watching the vehicles pass by. Humans lacked wings or physical speed so they had to make due with other methods of transportation to compensate for their poor physique, to the point they even made vessels such as air planes and ships to cross the air and sea. The vehicles on the road were the most common for humans to use, which you knew from your lessons, even if actually seeing the machines in action was very fascinating.

You slowed down, footsteps soft as you ambled down the sidewalk as you sniffed surreptitiously at each human you passed. 

Humans just all looked the same and you got more bewildered the longer you walked. Superficially they may have slight differences such as height, weight, hair, skin, eye colour or different outfits but on the whole every human looked the same. Two legs, two arms, hips, a torso, a neck, a head, two eyes, two ears, a nose and a mouth. There was zero variance in body types, none had wings or horns or tails or additional limbs or anything. They all had a basic appearance it seemed the entire species followed. It was absolutely baffling to you; even compared to your father, a direct blood relative, your devil self looked wildly different compared to the Demon Emperor. You may have similarities such as feathered wings and limb amount but beyond that you were very different in appearances.

But humans just didn't. There was a single type of human while demons had everything from Empusa and Geryons to Cerberus and Lusachia. There were hundreds of different demon 'species' but only a single human one. How lonely.

_Were there perhaps different humans before the splitting of worlds but they went extinct during the warring era?_

You sidestepped two humans which were pressed close to each other in blatant intimacy that made you uncomfortable, smelling their mixed scent and resisting the urge to growl at them. It would be a line of thought that would bug you for a while though and only demons from before that era would have any idea of the answer and you wouldn't dare bother your father about such inane questions if he ever blessed you with his presence again.

Following the example of the human in front of you, you stopped before the street as the man touched a large button attached to the multi-coloured traffic light next to the street. The tiny red human shape on the screen attached to the pole flicked to green and you followed him crossing the road as the vehicles stopped. Getting hit by a car wouldn't kill you, maybe bruise and perhaps break a bone if it was going very fast. You'd have to test that later.

Either way studying humans was fascinating, especially since you knew the majority of humans were non-combatants. A foreign concept to demonkind but as your keeper had explained and even Esta had mentioned it meant the majority of humans were weak and useless. 

So while you were wary you weren't afraid; for a typical human you'd be able to take their head off with a single hand and part of you keeping a low profile would be you trying to look as small and helpless as you could. Lilith had commented on a 'teenage orphan' act so you figured following that advice would be the easiest track, especially since to a typical human you _would_ look like a normal adolescence. Lilith had been in the Human World far longer than you, and in Hell it was less 'act helpless' and more 'hide' if you were attempting to keep a low profile. Acting weak just made you a target in the Underworld but humans were stupid and soft so that was the act you decided to follow since she had encouraged it.

There was the urge to reach out with your aura but shelved that idea immediately. No point in taking risks when your current task was reconnaissance. As it was, the fairly busy walkway provided you with a fair amount of humans to study and you kept a careful eye on the assortment of humans you passed and their scents. Humans smelled fairly strong but there was zero scent of magic in them. You were used to picking up on a whiff of ozone, ash or gas which would hint at a demons clemency if they had mancer abilities and even then with demons who didn't properly wield magic they would typically have an element they favoured passively. Humans just didn't have that. You knew they were mundane, Esta had further emphasized that with you that humans had no magical talent whatsoever but it was still baffling to sense it so blatantly.

In Hell you were constantly surrounded by magic- in the inhabitants, in the environment, suffusing the very air and sinking into your pores and curling thick in your nostrils and pressing against your devil soul. Now it was as if one of your senses had been cut off, a weird emptiness in the world that raised your hackles. You had no idea how humans tolerated the lack of magic. Little wonder demons had nearly driven them extinct so long ago.

You mused over that as you walked down the footpath, occasionally sidling by humans or pausing to watch a different vehicle drive past. Then stone fence next to the path was broken by a archway that led to a large grassy area dotted with trees; the archway had the words 'Middle Park' formed out of the metal and you walked through to find some odd little forest area in the middle of the human city. Most of the infrastructure you'd seen so far had been metal and rock, tall square buildings with glass, asphalt streets and footpaths but now it was all green grass, an assortment of trees with blooming flowerbeds. The path was also smooth stone with many humans wandering down it. Seemed the 'park' was mainly for humans to be among plant life.

A human ran past you, a four legged canine running at their side. You watched the human and their pet hurry down the pathway, being reminded of Esta and her Riots. Though the canine was no way near as large as a Riot, instead it barely came up to the human's knees and was covered in lush golden fur; no scales or plates to be seen as it ran along next to its owner.

Walking through the park made it fairly obvious that if human flora favoured green so much then your devil form would stick out like a sore thumb. In Hell the snowy feathers actually helped you blend in as the sky was usually roiling ashy clouds and most buildings were marble. But it seemed humans like their green and your white plumage would make you a lot more obvious. Though maybe all the green was only for 'park' forests. You'd need to investigate for though you knew human poisons your keeper didn't bother to teach you about every human flora or fauna besides the basics since they'd callously mentioned the Human World was weak and pitiful- even their animals lacked any magic and wouldn't pose a threat to you provided you didn't act foolishly. Secretly though you weren't fully convinced the Human World was completely mundane but had always kept that opinion to yourself.

The park was nice, a lot better than the footpath and street; the cars smelled foul, like poisonous gas and the clumped nature of the humans left you agitated. The park was more deserted, having a much wider path so you didn't feel so pressed in. The smells were nice and you wandered off the path to crouch in front of a cluster of flowers with flared yellow petals with an orange corona trumpet. They smelled wonderful and their petals were soft beneath your calloused fingertip. After a moment you plucked the flower from its stem and tucked it into your breast pocket, the yellow bright against your coat. 

There were more flowers, all an assortment of colours and smells. You even found an enclosure in the park labelled 'Rose garden' which had the same thickly petaled flower but of various sizes and colours. These ones had thorny stems but otherwise were harmless. You were fairly used to the flora of Hell and even touching several of the trees didn't result in any waking up and attacking you. It was a very placid place especially with the mild weather and relaxed humans, most of whom just seemed be wandering about aimlessly or running with their canine companions. Some of the canines were tiny, you spotting two- one black and one white -that would be around the same size of one of your boots trotting next to a red haired woman, little pink tongues lolling from tiny fanged snouts. You were fairly dubious about their defensive capabilities; if demons kept pets around like Riots or Chaos it was because when tamed the lesser demons were good guard beasts. Those tiny little animals didn't look like they could even kill a Critter. _Maybe they're poisonous? Utilize venom?_

You stayed off the path, walking across the grass and again wished you weren't wearing shoes. When you reached the heart of a park it opened in a large clearing dotted with trees of varying species and a central gazebo. Off to the side was a brightly coloured obstacle course you could pass in your sleep, the bars short and jumps tiny with numerous little humans scrabbling across the poles and up the nets. Ringing the obstacle course were numerous bronze statues of fauna, which more of the undersized humans were crawling up. On the other side of the gazebo was a massive fountain where more humans were lounging about, some playing with the water. 

After a moment of dithering you settled down in the shade of one of the trees; far away enough you felt relaxed but close enough you could still observe the humans. None of them gave you anything more than a brief look before going back to their activities. 

You watched a human led his small offspring by the hand before nudging the diminutive girl towards the colourful obstacle course, saying cheerfully, "Alright honey go have fun in the playground! See, Claire is here too."

The little girl squealed and took off at a run at the obstacle course- _Playground_ you mentally amended, -where another little girl started screeching at the newcomer and ran to meet her where they collided with a lot of squealing and tiny flailing limbs. The father seemed unconcerned, just laughing at the thrashing as he wandered over to start talking with one of the other parents.

It was completely baffling to you at how blatantly the humans showed off their vulnerable nestlings. Demons, if they chose to look after their young, would keep them safe in their den until the nestlings were grown enough to either fight or flee and even then the devils would watch over them until they had fully left the den. Some demons even remained in their family units for life but until then they didn't parade themselves or vulnerable young in front of potential threats, much less drag them around in public. To do so was either stupidity or the demon in question felt confident enough they could deal with any and all threats. 

With the humans these rules clearly didn't apply; the parents just shoved their nestlings in public and would barely keep an eye on them. You watched the group at the playground, at how the parents would usually stand off to the side talking to each other while their young screeched and clambered along the obstacle course. _Playground._ Only a few played directly with their nestlings, one father pushing his offspring on a swing set while she laughed happily and another who was helping its two nestlings build a little castle in the sprawling sandpit. Otherwise the young were left to play with each other and you knew from a few covert sniffs only a few were related so they much either be 'friends' or strangers.

It was completely alien to you and had no idea why the humans were so careless. Were they truly so lax as a society and species? Little wonder demons had nearly driven them to extinction before Sparda stepped in.

You quickly learned you didn't like being around the human nestlings- their small forms, shrill, shrieking voices and darting movements just screamed _prey_ to your devil half and you guessed devouring a bunch of human offspring would blow your cover completely so you wrestled down your demon self that reared up underneath your skin. At least the hood of your coat helped hide your sharpened fangs even as you got back up to your feet and quickly left the park. You were rather hungry.

There was the urge to attack a human in the park, to test their perception levels and maybe pick one with a canine friend but erred on the side of caution. Truthfully you were curious as what humans ate as you were used to a diet of carrion and pulped Hell flora. While the yellow flower tucked in your pocket smelled nice you weren't interested in eating a plant right now. 

Heading back out to the street you shifted from human watching to eyeing the numerous stores lining the streets. They had massive glass windows showcasing their wares, from clothing and furniture to stationary and cookware. Humans clearly enjoyed a diverse shopping situation, whereas in Hell it was mainly from either making it yourself or trade. Demons didn't really do shopping centres like humans did.

_Katie's Bakery._

This particular store smelled wonderful and after some staring at the elaborate cakes in the window you pushed open the door and went inside. A small bell dinged above you and your hand tightened around the steel handle enough to slightly dent it. You carefully unfurled your fingers before you could rip the door right off its hinges and stepped further into the small shop. You bristled at the low ceiling but the glass would be easily breakable if this encounter ended in a fight so you shoved that to the back of your mind as you walked up to the counter.

The human behind it smiled at you, hair pulled back in a messy bun with glasses resting upon her nose, "Hello, can I help you?"

Tilting your head you stared at her for a few silent moments, at the pulse of her carotid artery pushing against the delicate skin of her throat in a calm, even rhythm. Then your gaze slid down the glass cases flanking the counter, filled with a variety of pastries and sniffed again.

Donut, lobster tail, cupcake, cookie, cheesecake, muffin, scone, brownie, pie, cake, tart, eclair, macaroon, rumball.

You had absolutely no idea what any of those things were. Were they meat? They didn't smell like meat. Some type of plant then? You knew what a pie was, usually a skin or blood crust with a meaty inner heaping but the ones you could see didn't seem like that. Instead you were fairly sure it was filled with syrupy fruit. _What the Hell?_

The human at the counter cleared her throat, giving you a fake smile when you looked at her before you turned your attention back to the glass cases. You ignored the other two humans who had entered the store and were waiting behind while you stared at the food in the glass cases. While you were confused the food did smell very delicious. Not poisonous as well, which was good. Maybe you should try a variety.

"Miss? Do you want something?" the human pressed, even as the shop door dinged open again.

"A...donut," you finally said, pointing at the things in question. They were round and there seemed to have several types of various coverings of bright colours, "Give me all the donut there."

"All twenty?"

"Yes." You stared at her and the human gave you the weird overly stretched smile again before she moved, picking up a box and beginning to pack the donuts in with a pair of tongs. Behind you one of the humans gave an impatient sigh and you resisted the urge to summon your tail and slice their legs off at the knee. 

Instead you stared at the woman as she packed two boxes of the donuts and then set them down on the counter. You took the boxes as the human typed on the machine next to her and you watched her movements curiously before she flashed you another fake smile.

"That'll be twenty four dollars, please."

Oh right, humans used the weird papery stuff as currency. You held the boxes in one hand as you pulled out the wad of hundreds from your pocket. You tugged one free and handed it over to the woman who's face momentarily pinched with displeasure before the bland smile was back in place. You didn't care as she rummaged through the machine and handed you different notes which you stuffed into your coat pocket before nimbly sidestepping the humans queued behind you while resisting the urge to growl.

Honestly you nearly killed one of them just for crowding you. How those creatures tolerated complete strangers standing so close to them was beyond you. All it did was instil a territorial rage; it was unlike at Devil's Dalliance where it was very clearly Lilith's territory so you'd tolerate foreign demons in close proximity due to that, due to her reigning over it and her rules to abide. But the bakery wasn't that human's territory, and the overriding scent was the food. It left you annoyed and wrong footed t their invasive behaviour.

Walking down the street gave you enough time to calm down and you found a bench on the footpath to settle down on and human watch with the boxes balanced on your lap.

You ate the two boxes of donuts as you watched humans wander back and forth, studying the vehicles on the road and occasionally the wildlife. The donut were good though, sweet and soft under your teeth and you found yourself stuffing them enthusiastically in your mouth and ignoring the weird looks you got.

At one point a bird flew down to settle on the stone a few feet from you as you ate. It was small, with white feathers except for ashy wings. It had a yellow bill and pale webbed feet. It cocked its head to the side and waddled forward before squawking at you. A scavenger then. You spotted some of its fellows watching you from a nearby rooftop, no doubt watching in case you turned violent. The one who dared approach was either desperate or had been made to come towards you to feel you out.

Chewing on a donut you broke off a piece before leaning down slightly and offering it to the bird. It waddled forward but was smart enough not to get within arms reach of you. Swallowing down the donut you eyed the bird as it eyed you before your throat flexed even as your larynx shifted before you trilled to the small bird- it was reminiscent of how you had communicated with the Roc, a kinship language from your avian self. The small bird in front of you perked up, feathers ruffled before it darted forward to snatch the donut piece from your fingers. The watching flock took flight, moving in a spiral as they swooped down to settle in front of you. Their abrupt flight startled a passing human who all but ran out of the way, but the flocks attention was focused on you.

Looking at the boxes you'd nearly finished the last; only two donuts left of the original twenty four. You licked icing off your fingers, sweet and sugary rather than bloodied or marrow, before eyeing the flock of birds sitting around your ankles. A few were brave enough to fly up onto the bench next to you, squawking plaintively but not quite brave enough to creep towards the box on your lap.

They were brave but not stupid; though the humans were clearly oblivious to your nature the birds weren't as stupid. They were pleading for food but weren't foolish enough to actually push into your personal space so after some though you decided to reward them. The donuts were filling and had sated your hunger so you could spare the two remaining ones. Humans clearly liked their food so you doubted you'd go hungry in this world.

With that in mind you began to tear the donut to pieces, offering small bits to the waiting birds. They didn't push beyond a few rude shrieks at each other before snapping the offered food from your fingers. They were sweet, small and hapless and you had a feeling that even if you shifted into your devil form they wouldn't flee from you.

 _What sweet creatures,_ you thought. There was no disdain in your mind instead it was just simple curiosity as you fed another, the bird carefully taking the piece of donut from your fingers with a little yellow beak.

Boxes empty you nonchalantly tossed them to the side of the bench where they were instantly swarmed by the hungry birds, along with getting a fairly dirty look from a woman standing at the roadside a few feet away. You ignored it as you got to your feet and continued down the footpath before darting across the road, quick enough to avoid a vehicle but not fast enough to draw suspicious. Several of the ashy birds took flight while their brethren screamed at each other over the boxes, and followed you down the street. A few dared to swoop down so close they nearly touched you, disturbing passing humans with their shrieks and close proximity but otherwise being harmless.

You were a bit saddened when the flock finally left after two blocks but figured having the birds following you would be a bit strange. Then again they clearly lived alongside the city-dwelling humans so maybe that was just how they acted normally after you fed them. Still, it made you immensely curious as to what other fauna inhibited the Human World as you'd had lessons but not on specific individuals. You only really read pictures and your keeper's dry comments at how those creatures were edible. But that was only a single lesson and was the bare bones as your keeper clearly didn't view the wildlife as important. You were _curious_ and reasoned familiarizing yourself with the local fauna could be beneficial; those birds had been amicable to your company after all and wondered if the other avian species of this world would be just as tolerant. You weren't sure but wasn't going to shut the door on that possibility without due experimentation.

This time you followed your nose and ears, sniffing as you tracked down a specific location; you wanted to know more about the Human World's fauna and found another possibility with a bright yellow store that took up half a block.

The store had large display windows and inside were an assortment of animals; on the left was a large red bird with a hooked beak perched on a fake branch and on the right was a pack of small furry creatures that reminded you of Shadows but instead of being glowing darkness they had white and ginger fur. Even as you peered at the small creatures one of them put little paws on the window, meowing behind the glass as it looked at you with squinted blue eyes. As you eyed the small squirming animals a woman with two young passed you, the doors to the store automatically opening to let them through.

_Pet & Pets._

You sniffed, smelling a further assortment of animals inside so after some dithering you stepped through the door and began to wander about. You spotted a human washing one of the canines at a wash station, the animal panting happily while its black and white fur was soaked. There was another human talking to others at the front counter and you ignored them in favour of exploring the store.

 _Humans really do like their pets,_ you thought as you inspected a massive shelf that was absolutely stuffed with toys from chew ropes to laser pointers. You also learned humans seemed to refer to canines as 'dogs' as a more casual label which you guessed were interchangeable like avian and bird but clearly humans valued dogs very, very highly since a large portion of the store was dedicated to that particular species. There were also cats, birds and fish but dogs were the majority.

Watching the tiny fish was entertaining, some no bigger than your thumbnail with flashing scales. There were even fat little 'axolotls' with frilly gills and grasping little hands floating around in a tank. Rather than feeling disdain you felt a great deal of amusement over these strange creatures as you were so used to Hell fauna which was usually lethal or dangerous. Now however it seemed Human fauna was hapless and usually kept as companions. It did make you think about how it would be if you caught a Cerberus as a pet and the mental image made you laugh.

You'd definitely need a bigger room for that.

Once you finished fish watching you moved to the glass cases in the middle of the store where an assortment of rodents were housed in. Some were short and hairy, having tiny ears and round faces with striped fur while others were long with naked tails and pink leathery hands. They seemed fairly unbothered by your staring and most were napping or grooming each other. There was also a lone one at the case right at the end, the animal was small, barely bigger than a critter and covered in soft grey fur. Two long floppy ears flanked its face and it looked up at you with bright black eyes.

"Hi, can I help you?" A woman sidled up to you, her smile wide. She was dressed the same as the other two at the counter so you assumed she was a fellow worker.

"That animal is nice," you pointed at the long eared one.

"Ah, the rabbit?" she smiled, quickly unlatching the top of the case, "They're very cuddly once they're used to you."

"So they are common pets?"

"They are but they shouldn't be. What a lot of people don't know is that rabbits are fairly high maintenance pets," the woman said as she gently picked up the animal and cradled it in her arms, "They live for around ten years in captivity and as rodents they really enjoy chewing on things so you'll need to rabbit-proof your home. They also have a fairly strong odour until you get them fixed and their vet bills can be quite expensive. However they can be trained and they're very snuggly. Do you own your house or are renting...?"

"Oh I'm um boarding, I have my own room."

"That's good, rabbits need to be able to have a lot of room to roam about. They aren't something you can just stuff in a cage all day. Though you'd need to cover wires and the like so they don't nibble through," she told you.

You nodded, reaching out a hand and tentatively patted the small creature in her arms. Its fur was soft and warm, thick against your palm. You could feel its ribs expand as it breathed and could sense the rapid beat of its heart beneath the fur. You patted its side and then gingerly rubbed at its chubby neck, mindful to keep your grip gentle. The rabbit craned its neck around to sniff at your wrist with a twitching pink nose.

"They need unlimited access to hay and you need to mix their eating with pellets and need fresh vegetables each day," she told you.

"They don't eat meat?"

To her credit the woman didn't even blink, "No, they're herbivores. Fruit and veg only."

 _Herbivore._ You rolled the word around in your head. That was a completely unheard of concept in Hell. Not eating meat. How odd.

"Thank you but I can't have a rabbit now," you said.

"That's fine, best to do proper research into a pet you know?" the woman said as she put the rabbit back down, "Too many people buy them- especially around Easter -and then dump them because they actually require care. Research is always necessary when picking a pet, they are a privilege not a right."

* * *

_The Human Hox gene is the Rosetta stone of the human body cells and defines several aspects of cell behaviour and manifestation. The Hox gene is responsible for the body plans of the human body, organizing the structure of the human embryo along the head-tail axis. Once the basic embryonic aspect has manifested the Hox proteins activate to determine the different types of vertebrae and appendages that would form on the segments that make up the human body structure. The Hox genes are an activation gene, as they do not form the segments but rather outline the blueprints for the segment identity. The Hox genes are a group of evolutionarily conserved genes and they regulate early development morphogenetic processes and continue throughout adulthood that encode a family of transcription factors._

_The Hox gene also influences numerous physiologic and pathologic processes in the formation of a human being. The Hox gene is comprised of nine genes split into two subclusters and these clusters are labelled as HOXA, HOXB, HOXC and HOXD, and are located on chromosomes 7p14, 17q21, 12q13 and 2q31, respectively._

_The first Hox gene cluster was discovered in Drosophila melanogaster and consists of-_

"Excuse me, miss? I'm sorry but the library is closing. You'll need to leave and come back tomorrow."

You were halfway out of your chair, nails turning into long talons before you caught yourself. You froze mid movement, quickly realizing the woman who had disturbed you as the elderly human you'd seen when you first entered the library. Her survival skills were seriously lacking as she hadn't even noticed you'd been a hairsbreadth from smacking her head clean off.

Instantly you banished your claws and flashed a smile at the old woman who smiled back at you, oblivious, "My apologises, I'll put my books away."

"It's no problem dear, I can handle that," she assured you.

You stepped back from the table, which was littered with numerous books about the human body, biology and disease. You'd found the library, an immense building that took up an entire block, after you left the pet store and continued down the road. It was four stories high and consisted of books, books and more books so you couldn't resist spending the rest of the afternoon buried in books. Hell did occasionally have libraries but they tended to be guarded by Librarians which were monstrously strong blind demons which would try killing anyone they heard in their territory. Human librarians seemed to be mostly elderly, fragile ladies but you weren't about to let your guard down just yet.

Glancing outside the windows you realized it was sunset and ah crap, you needed to return to Devil's Dalliance. You'd just been sucked in reading about 'biology' which was apparent how humans functioned as a species since they lacked magic and their social structure. As such you'd been reading a plethora of books about their immune systems and biology but had completely lost track of time, so absorbed in reading.

Giving the old woman one last courtesy smile you quickly left, hurrying down the stairs and out the front doors. While you still may have options about humanity you certainly wasn't going to criticize their book keeping skills; you had always hungered over knowledge and your keeper had only given you the bare bones for humanity in terms of their culture and ideology; for their bodies you knew extensively about their muscles, circularity system and organs but that was also to your own benefit. Learning about their biology, about their _genes_ was so unduly fascinating for you and though you were loathe to leave the library your obedience overrode it. You could come back later or if humanity had library systems in various cities you could find another one to study in.

You did notice the atmosphere in the city seemed to change as night fell, even if the weather remained mild while the sky turned a wonderful orange and purple. You could see stars dotting the sky as you made your way back to Devil's Dalliance, noting that as you got closer neon signs and previously closed shops were opening. You knew about sex and whatnot but had no interest in it whatsoever, so devoted to your master as you were but it seemed humans enjoyed that aspect of their lives as many of the shops in the alleyways or streets closer to Lilith's territory were of this nature.

The smell also changed and you wrinkled your nose at the smell of alcohol, piss and lust curled in your nostrils. Alcohol was another thing you had no interest in, even knowing that human alcohol wouldn't have much of an effect on your demon biology. Demonic liquor would probably kill a human since it was so potent but you knew it would mess up your mental facilities so you were never interested. 

Finally you caught sight of Devil's Dalliance, the main entrance being down a brightly lit alleyway. You peered down it as you made your way around the block, knowing you would sneak in through the back window but also curious as to why it was so popular with the humans. There was a line of them outside the door, being ushered in one at a time by a tall muscular man guarding the door. Even as you watched he scribbled something down on his clipboard before letting in a gaggle of women through the doors, before repeating the process with the next in queue. Seemed fairly boring and you sniffed; he wasn't a demon, so perhaps one of the 'Spotters' Lilith mentioned?

Your eyes slid up the neon signs clinging to the alley walls, their colours bright and glowing in the quickly encroaching night. Some were in the shapes of drinks and other objects were there were also ones with words, such as one repeating the word _'Girls Girls Girls!'_ across the wall in bright pink letters. There was several more words but your gaze snagged on one closest to the doorway, reading _'Live Sex Show!'_ in crimson.

 _Oh. I guess there are places where humans have sex with the dead,_ you frowned, eyeing the sign and the humans milling underneath speculatively. Didn't seem very hygienic to you. 

Shrugging that off you pushed yourself off the wall and continued down the street, nimbly sidestepping a group of stumbling humans before you ducked around the corner and made your way to the back of Devil's Dalliance. You squinted up at the back of the building, spotting your seal which looked like moss growing from the brickwork around your window before your gaze slid over to the adjacent building. You eyed the distance, guessing at the strength you'd need before flexing your thighs. Then you launched yourself right up to the top of the building in a single strong jump with you landing silently on the lip of the roof, balance perfect. Then you nimbly leapt across the gap, digging claws into the windowsill as you deactivated your seal and slipped back inside.

Not even a second later you heard a knock at the door, quickly shutting the window and crossing the room to reveal Lilith's leering face waiting for you outside. She walked right into the room, her stretched features contorting as she smiled at you in a gesture that made her stolen skin warp weirdly. She smelled just as bad as you remembered.

"What do you need of me?" you greeted her politely, inclining your head. 

"Ah, fully rested are we?" She gave you a quick once over.

"Yes. Am I to be assigned?"

Lilith grinned, her painted lips pulling back to bare her teeth, "Yes you are, because you need to inspect the Hell Gates. That's your first mission this world side, girlie," she nonchalantly tossed you a sheaf of paper before continuing, "Go check all their sigil shit and then get back here as soon as you can with your findings. You'll find the coordinates on the paper and if you get lost use your phone or landmarks. Now quit dilly-dallying and get the fuck out."

* * *


	7. Hell Gates

* * *

The true Hell Gate towered over everything in Fortuna, a giant monolith that could be seen anywhere in the city.

You'd reached the island four days after being assigned your mission; Lilith had briskly informed you of your task and after some more cursing told you to check your phone if you got lost 'like a dumbass'. Then she'd all but shoved you out the window and you'd spent several minutes on the nearby rooftop reading the coordinate list for the location of the Hell Gates and fiddling with your phone. You were pleased to note your phone did have a compass and it took only a few seconds to correctly orientate yourself. The stagnant nature of the Human World was certainly handy as it meant navigation would be far easier.

So finding the true Hell Gate only took you four days of continuous flight in your devil form. You'd intentionally kept yourself at cruising speed rather than immense haste as you weren't too sure how much energy you'd need to use to inspect the sealed portal or how long it would take. There were also the lesser Gates but the focal point would be the true one that, if rumours were correct, were where Sparda cut the worlds asunder. Though considering the gossipy nature of demons you'd take that with a barrel of salt.

You'd memorized the coordinates and then set the message aflame before leaving Limbo City and travelling across the ocean. You tracked the location with your sense of direction and kept an eye on the constellations above- another invaluable lesson your late keeper had given you and within an acceptable time frame you landed upon the edge of the island and shifted back into your human form to quickly blend in. Then it had been easy to track down the deep radiating pulse of energy within the island that reached out to your senses like a lodestone where it was simple to slip within the sea of humanity inhabiting the city built around the monolith to get close enough to look.

The true Hell Gate did, ironically enough, make Fortuna one of the safest places on the planet. The warding on the Hell Gate seeped through the ancient structure and outwards like a giant web, encasing the island in an anti-demon field of energy as if spread from the roots of a tree. Demons would be unable to open entrances anywhere on Fortuna, only gateways connecting from the Human World could ever be opened with the true Hell Gate's seal at its current strength.

The humans had structured their city with the Hell Gate as a central location which you could understand. It also meant you could walk right up to the elegant stone courtyard surrounding the Gate, though you noticed the humans had built barriers to prevent people from actually physically getting to the stone but even with that you could sense the power of the monolith and see the surface seal work and as you meandered around the courtyard among the hustle of humans you kept your gaze fixed upon the gleaming stone.

The Hell Gate was, in itself as an object, a seal of containment. Though it was in the form of a giant rectangular slab of magical stone the Gate itself was a towering sigil with seals threaded deeply through it as a network. There were visible symbols on the slick looking surface, stretching down the length of the stone like raised veins of gold but the entire stone was saturated with a network of seal matrix's that had grown throughout.

You were also deeply fascinated to note that the true Hell Gate was actually made of living stone. No doubt the Hell Gate had fossilized when Sparda had sealed it, turning it into a pure form of the element earth. 

There were five alpha elements that presided over existence in both worlds- fire, earth, water, air and ether. Finding pure sources of the elements was exceedingly difficult in the current age and you guessed when the Dark Knight cut the world in twain the sudden severance of magic from the Human World had fossilized the Gate into a pure state of earth that had lasted strong and tall even two millennia later. In this case it was living earth, which explained the deep energy suffusing the entire island of Fortuna. It was threaded within the earth itself and was only halted by the surrounding sea. Which just added another layer of difficulty towards opening the true Hell Gate as pure elements were extremely durable and magic in nature. It meant the seals seeped into the surface would be _strong._

Circling around the monolith you gnawed on your lower lip; you needed to get closer to the Hell Gate, needed to touch it and memorize the seals threaded through the living earth. You had gotten a good general idea of the gate just from your observation ad sensing with your aura (and quite frankly what you sensed was troubling) but you needed to touch it. You needed to check it slowly and methodically, to see if you could find a chink in the armour of the plethora of seals choking the stone. Though you had to be sneaky and it seemed the humans enjoyed swarming around the courtyard and around the rise of the stone. At your current position you could see the surface of the Hell Gate but you'd need to get up and personal and the humans would probably take umbridge with that even if their little fence wouldn't deter you.

And killing a bunch of them would hardly be subtle.

You left the courtyard, deciding to return at night since they weren't a nocturnal species. It also gave you the opportunity to explore the city which you knew Sparda had ruled for many years, walking along the cobblestone paths and studying the humans living in the sprawling infrastructure with curiosity. You didn't mind the cathedrals and archways that connecting the city and a part of you wanted to perch in the alcoves and towers. Though that'd be fairly noticeable but the urge was still there. The foundations, sloped roofs and engraved ramparts made you think of all the places to hide and scurry, to prowl and creep.

At least you weren't the only foreigner as you quickly deduced many humans would travel to Fortuna solely to see the Hell Gate, much like you were. 'Tourists', they were apparently called even if the locals didn't seem particularly fond of them. Most of the inhabitants of the city didn't give your presence a second glance as you walked the streets with your hood up and so you took the chance to study the humans going about their business. However you made sure to keep the Gate within your periphery vision even if the structure was so huge it took up most of the skyline.

While walking and eavesdropping you did learn that humans preferred it if you used the 'casual' terms for things- such as calling canine dogs or felines cat, as using the more correct term seemed to make humans suspicious of you so you changed your lexicon accordingly. At least you weren't the only one confused as human libraries actually had books about social interactions and you browsed some while creeping around several book stores in the city. Your keeper never bothered to teach you about the nuance of human social cues beyond the bare bones so you spent a few hours reading while waiting for night to fall. Even the children's books helped as you were fairly oblivious as to how to behave beyond 'don't go on killing sprees'. If in Hell you called a Cerberus a dog they would take offence, just like calling a Minotaur a cow or a Roc a bird. Using terms such as canine wouldn't though. Here though you figured humanity chose the more relaxed version of these words due to the fact they were the only sapient species in their world. It was something you found interesting and corrected your behaviour accordingly.

Another thing with humans was that you learned they did not like being referred to as such which you didn't understand. Demons had no issue with being called demons or devils- its what they were, the same way you were a hybrid. Humans though got all mad if they were called it so you shifted to saying 'people' instead even if inside you were rolling your eyes. _Such bizarre rules._

Though the people of Fortuna did behave differently from the ones in Limbo City, and you had to wonder if it was because Fortuna was on an island accessible to humans only by ship. You'd just flown in and landed on one of the edges and snuck in but humans had such limits to their travelling capabilities. The difference was interesting between the two locations, there were less vehicles and even the shops and wildlife were different. There were also a lot less companion animals but you found a flock of the white and grey birds like the ones you'd fed back in Limbo. Seagulls, one passer-by cursed at them as the birds stole her sandwich right out of her hand. You appreciated the audacity.

Still, it was another excuse to people watch but when the sun was sliding down the horizon to paint the sky apricot you began to head back to the true Hell Gate. However as you did so you passed a grassy courtyard with a stone church on your way towards the stairs to the next level and you spotted a large symbol emblazoned above the wooden doors, a downwards facing sword with a wing wrapped around it and the words _Order of the Sword_ stamped below. You lingered slightly, remembering Esta's words about humans and their fondness towards religion and worship before continuing on your way to the monolith.

It was even more beautiful in the falling dusk, the stone glistening as if wet and the golden sigils have a faint ethereal shimmer to them which only your demon eyes could see. You lingered in the stretching shadows until night had fully fallen, the moon a glowing sickle among the dark expanse of sky and stars. By then the humans had left for their homes or, the few that stayed up for the dark, seemed to be moving deeper in the city and not near the Hell Gate. Deeming it safe you cautiously crept out of the shadows and slunk across the smooth stone courtyard to the Gate, with your eyes still glowing with the white of your devil soul.

Slowly you reached out and touched the stone of the Hell Gate, feeling you hackles rise as you ran your palm across the surface and at the slow movement of ancient magic against your skin. _Jigokumon._

The monolith was beautiful not just as a structure but as an active seal and you eagerly studied the gleaming golden sigils folded into it, looking for any chink in the armour, for anything that could let it be pried open as a doorway again.

Unfortunately the more studying you did the more obvious it became that the seal Sparda used upon the true Hell Gate could only be opened with a singular, specific key. It was difficult to transcribe as so much was entangled in the Hell Gate, along the smooth glimmering surface of the towering pillar, but there wouldn't be a way to cut the seal without finding the key. It was something carved from immense power, fuelled by an ancient and strong devil soul and required... _Cutting? Slicing? What does that even mean in terms of a seal?_

From the rumours you were fairly confident the Dark Knight used the Devil Sword Sparda as the focal point for sealing the rift he'd cut in the worlds but the sigil work in the Hell Gate weren't referencing the Devil Sword Sparda as the means to deactivate the overlaying foundation and open the portal again.

You squinted at the stone, unsure of the curling sigils running down adjacent of the main containment seal. Cutting a seal just didn't work- the magical means of the matrix meant it couldn't be cut by any means. If the foundation it was inlaid upon was destroyed it would just cause it to explode or become inert but in many cases the seal would doggedly keep fixed upon the structure unless properly deactivated and due to how strong the Hell Gate was and additionally being living stone, it could not be destroyed by any normal means. Even a Devil Arm couldn't slice through a seal just as any mundane weapon couldn't and that went in triplicate for sources of pure element. You had read the texts and even tried experiments but simply slicing it wouldn't work, no weapon was that sharp.

Except for the Yamato.

 _Shit._ You leaned forward, pressing both palms against the pillar as you eyed the golden seals while chewing your bottom lip. You knew of Sparda's three swords and that the katana was used to cut the world in twain but that was- how had that been even possible in the first place? Unless the edge of the sword actually didn't exist in the mundane dimension but rather a place inbetween but to cut a world in half still boggled your mind years later after the fact. The focus from the Dark Knight that day must have been extraordinary when he committed the act.

Sparda's swords were unique in the fact that the Dark Knight had split his soul into threes while still living which essentially crippled himself in terms of power since it separated it into three, easily stolen, weapons. Yamato was clearly the most desired and you knew Lord Mundus hunted for the weapon even if it remained ever so elusive. You wondered who currently had it or if it, like Sparda, was simply lost. But the fact remains that specific sharpness was what the seals spoke of as a means to sever the seals matrix without blowing up the entire island (and probably that half of the hemisphere) yet still keep the underlying structure as a Gate intact.

You knew Machiavelli came close with his Damascus steel blades for sharpness but most of those had been lost with the legendary smith's death. The devil had died with his art and those still living weapons and armour born of his forge were highly sort due to their rarity and uniqueness after but from legends Yamato put even those blades to shame. It was a dimension cutter, a singular edge capable of cutting through quarks and charm just as easily as flesh and bone provided the wielder had the skill and knowledge to properly utilize such sharpness. The severance of worlds probably took Sparda some time to perfect, as you knew there were still lingering entrances to Hell and tiny pocket dimensions of split off worlds of magic that lingered like bubbles between the two but the fact he even accomplished such a feat was still remarkable even two millennia later.

The true Hell Gate was a conduit for that though you had a strong feeling that breaking the seals keeping it intact would be even more convoluted than Sparda's feat with the worlds. There was so much but when you followed the underlying sigils it would come back to the centre matrix that kept the web active within the stone.

_Was the Dark Knight a seal master?_

Though you knew the traitor Sparda was the greatest enemy of your father Lord Mundus a part of you desperately wanted to meet the Dark Knight and ask him about the seals that bound the Gates, if he had actually made them intentionally or if it had been instinct or if they had formed naturally when he cut the worlds and then the magic consolidated into the Gate with the use of the Sparda Sword as the central sealing matrix. You had a strong inclination that the true Hell Gate was ground zero for the schism two millennia ago but honestly the whole act was a bit murky beyond 'he cut the world in half' and it left you with a frustrating lack of knowledge.

Intentionally done no doubt but it left you so hungry for information.

* * *

_They worship anything they deem a God and they think many things are a God._

The statue of Sparda was twelve feet tall, carved from a dark cold stone and rested on a plinth at the back of the church. Covered in heavy, thickly embellished armour with two sets of wings folded at his back, the statue stood tall with hands resting on the pommel of his sword which was planted in the ground before him. Large ribbed horns curled forward from his temple and gleaming rubies had been inlaid in the stone for his eyes.

You had spent several nights studying the true Hell Gate before coming to the fairly glum conclusion the Gate would never be opened without the Yamato and if that sword was lost then the seal would remain forever. It was an expected outcome really, but a part of you had hoped you would've been able to find a chink in one's armour as it were. So reluctantly you had retreated, preparing to leave Fortuna after the final night of being pressed against the Hell Gate but when you'd moved down through the city to reach the shoreline you'd spied the church again. Curiosity won out and as morning broke over the city you'd gone inside to find these particular humans worshipped the Dark Knight.

Something you could understand- he was an exemplary demon even if he was a traitor. Little wonder the humans worshipped him. You weren't a stranger to worship, many did so towards the Demon Emperor- as they rightly should -and there were priests and nuns within the Underworld but most were mad or dangerous enough one wouldn't approach without caution. 

To your surprise there were humans up and about in the church despite the early hour, one focused on lighting the plethora of candles inside and the other sweeping the floor between the pews. You were silent enough neither noticed you approach the statue of Sparda which was set up just behind the speakers podium, to stare across the congregation with empty crimson eyes.

"Good morning, sister."

You didn't twitch, having already heard the woman approach. You could smell the lingering smoke from the spent matches clinging to her calloused fingertips as you turned to her, eyeing her curiously. The woman was wearing a long white robe with the hood up, a deep red sash draped across her chest and tied at the waist. She was thin and narrow, easy to see that she wasn't a fighter just from her stance alone.

"Good morning," you greeted her back neutrally. She wasn't a threat to you, especially since she was within range of your rapier. The other human continued to sweep the floors.

"Are you here to join the Order?" she clasped her hands together, resting them against her stomach. 

"I'm afraid I do not know much about the Order. Can you explain it to me?"

Her partially hidden face softened into a smile, "Of course. Here we offer grace and worship towards the great savior of humankind, Sparda. He lived in Fortuna for many years as a feudal lord and was the one responsible for the monolith gracing Fortuna island which protects us from demonic influence and harm."

"Sparda lived here?" you asked, curious. If what the woman said was true then it _did_ confirm that Sparda chose to live among the humans to be worshipped as a god, rather than take the throne in Hell.

"Yes, for many years he lived within Fortuna to watch over us. It's why our statues of the savior are of such a good likeness, as he agreed to sit for our sculptors at the time," the woman said gesturing towards the dark stone effigy of the Dark Knight standing before them.

"The island is quite remote for the Dark Knight to have stayed for so long," you said. You had seen it while flying, surrounded on all sides by the sea with no hint of a nearby landmass upon the horizon. Maybe that was why Sparda chose it? Humans did seem fairly annoying and confusing.

"It may be isolated and perhaps some wish for easier to reach our fellows yet the location enables us to truly devote ourselves to our savior without distraction."

"Did he create the Order?"

"No, the humans at the time understood he was not to be put into such a position as it was upon ourselves to recognize our faith. As the years continue we continue to grow more and more followers until hopefully the island itself will be fully true in its devotion. His Holiness Sanctus is our vicar and leader of our flock in the current times. He presides within the main foundation for our faith on the eastern side of the island however he visits the mainland and castle monthly to speak to fellow believers and impart his wisdom."

"I see. I am simply passing through, however."

Disappointment crinkled the corner of her mouth and eyes even if the woman's words remained friendly, "I understand. Many passerby find it difficult to accept the truth but if you wish to hear more of our savior and Order you're welcome to attend morning mass before you leave. And if you wish to stay or visit us again we always welcome new members to the one true faith. It is a dangerous world out there with demons ready to prey upon us the moment we let our guard down- here you will be protected by the Order."

You inclined your head, face carefully blank before you stepped away; clearly the woman had no idea she was speaking to a demon right now and you wondered if the humans of this 'Order' thought their churches were natural repellents to your kind. Though it was the true Hell Gate you doubted the humans here truly understood what the Gate was actually doing for the city but you had dawdled enough as is. Human worship was interesting but you felt oddly agitated underneath the Dark Knight's unseeing ruby gaze.

* * *

When you returned to Devil's Dalliance upon the completion of the rest of your mission with investigating the lesser Gates Lilith instead led you to one of the backrooms of the club, shoved you inside and shut the door behind you without any fanfare.

The room was an office, homey with wooden furniture and lit warmly with hundreds of candles crammed on nearly every surface. A demon stood at the far wall, long skeletal fingers flicking against an empty wick of a candle to ignite it. You could see large leathery wings tucked against their back, numerous black scales edged in a pulsating scarlet and a barbed tail coiling around thin ankles. Then they turned, a ripple shimmering down their body and a human woman with dark hair and a round face smiled at you.

The glamour was good and for a second your eyes flicked down to the choker around her neck before you quickly bowed your neck in greeting.

"So you're the new little runner, aren't you?" the demon smiled, fangs glinting in the flickering candle light. She stepped forward, scales now a pressed black suit and horns shiny curls, until she could reach out to tip your chin up to inspect your face. Her fingers were rough and cold, "I am Syracuse and I expect you have completed your task."

"Yes. I have completed my assignment for the Gates." You didn't react to the poking, much like when Lilith had grabbed you.

"Good. Sit and tell me your findings, half-breed."

She gestured towards the two squat armchairs before sweeping down in an elegant motion with her legs crossed and you awkwardly sat down opposite her, avoiding the arms of the chair which were covered in burning candles and strings of yellow wax. Syracuse's glamour was good but her teeth remained sharp and her eyes were tainted; her hazel pupils had a ring of red encasing them and the white scleras were stained by tiny tendrils of black that squirmed and twisted like worms as she stared at you unblinkingly.

Her attention remained thus as you told her your findings, about the inspecting of the true Hell Gate and true Hell Gate remained sealed none others could be opened without the use of the singular key the Dark Knight used as a focal point for the schism. Basically, everything was useless without the use of the key but you did your best to explain the sigil system to the other demon, to elaborate on what you had seen tied within the monolith of living stone on the island.

Though as you finished your report to Syracuse you finally figured out what was bothering you about her, about the sour stench to her scent and the taint within her eyes that felt oddly familiar.

_Angelo._

You'd heard tales of Angelos, something that now became synonymous with Lord Mundus correcting his disobedient soldiers or turning enemy soldiers into his own loyal troops. Of the Demon Emperor invading the minds and souls of other demons and making them his. Yet another reason he was the true ruler of devilkind as he could hold domain over their very essence as a being.

The odd smell that had pricked your attention as soon as you'd stepped foot in the room was very faint and once you understood she was an Angelo you realized it was the lingering essence of your father through the ichor running through her being. You were one of the very few who had met the Prince of Darkness, much less noticing the flickering flesh roiling beneath the stone armour so you could pick out her infection through association alone. _Blood of my blood._

Syracuse didn't look terribly surprised at your findings of the Hell Gate as you fell silent, instead looking fairly resigned as she leaned forward to prop her chin up in one hand, "A pity. It was as we already suspected but there was hope perhaps a different set of eyes could see a way to sneak past the traitor's work. Work is still in progress to track down the swords yet they remain illusive."

"Is that to be my next mission?"

"No. Your seal-seeing eyes are needed elsewhere. Since, at the moment, the Gate is not a viable option we must visit other means. The Gates are not the only way to the Underworld but for many they also require keys or items of power. Though when you finish a mission you will report directly to me," Syracuse said, "Lilith may assign you things if I am unavailable but you will not report your findings to her. If I am not here you will wait until I am available. If you continue to full fill your missions without blunder then I'll contact you with your phone but until you prove you aren't worthless your reports will be in person. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Good. Then your next assignment is much like the same- there are things humans call 'museums' where they tend to hoard items of the past or artefacts from various places of their history. From what I know you have one of the highest percentiles in aura sensitivity and magical senses. This such one, called Gaea, specifically caters to objects from era one which is the time before the traitor cut the world in half. Majority are useless but we have found some things of interest such as Machiavelli armour and Plato's hexathon or Devil Armsin such places. Though many demons tend to be too short sighted or stupid to spot them. You understand caution as in this you must rely upon stealth. In these places humans watch over it but you must not kill them. If you find an artefact of demonic origin bring it back with you."

"Is there a specific item I'm looking for?"

"Yes. There is supposedly Ǒusībùyúnlǚ and the Vedic amulet are in this location but at the moment none of the other associates can detect the aura around these as they are currently inert from time. It's an annoyance but this calls for a more...gentle touch. Though Sparda is silent his death is not confirmed and many demons are fairly stupid or violent thus further scrutiny is unwanted. Useful for carnage but not for the finer things as tracking down sleeping Devil Arms or keeping underneath the radar as more often than not bloodlust wins out. They have uses but not for this. So while are you are to find those two objects you are also to inspect the entire collection there for any other magic items. It doesn't matter if they are all but useless you will take and them and return them to me. Gaea is open to the public during the day but they have large storage facilities in the back which you'll need to gain access to after hours."

"I see." At least your stealth would come in handy for this if you were to remain undetected by the humans, "How long do I have to complete this?"

"A week," Syracuse said, "You need to be methodical in your searching. I judge from the time you completed your previous assignment it will only take you a day to reach Gaea and you can begin your search immediately."

"I understand."

"Good. Do you need rest before starting?" Syracuse's expression remained completely neutral but you weren't fooled.

"No. I can leave immediately."

* * *

While you left Limbo City you soared high enough you could be mistaken as a bird, taking advantage of the consistent wind to shift from flying to gliding as you travelled east to Gaea. While gliding you thought over the Angelo's words and a part of you was excited to track down ancient artefacts. In the Underworld they were usually guarded by powerful demons but with the Human World everything was softer. Easier.

Even the weather was gentle with the sky currently overcast but the wind steady beneath your wings. You hadn't encountered any intense weather beyond rain while in Hell you could get fire tornados and acid storms. Now you were moving at a consistent pace, watching as the landscape below changed from city to farmland and then finally beach, ports and then the sea. You had studied globes and knew the Human World was mostly covered in salt water which humans couldn't survive on. Yet another thing to show their inferiority.

However six hours into your flight over the ocean you spotted several dark shapes below. You swooped down, the last time you'd spotted humans being a fishing vessel three hours before and was curious as to what as down there. When you dropped down to only twenty feet above the dark sea water the closest shadow began to rise and you watched, fascinated, at the giant blue animal that came into view.

The creature was immense, easily the same size as a Goliath and you flew uncertainly over it. As you watched its massive head breached the surface of the ocean beneath you, a dense spray of water burst out of the nostril on the top of its head. You quickly dodged, the water splattering across the feather tips of your right wing but to your surprise it wasn't acid. A quick sniff revealed it was just salt water and as you looked back down several more of the large blue animals rolled from the water and spat out a salty spray.

The herd seemed to be travelling in the same direction as you so you saw no harm in moving closer, swooping down so you could pick out the detail of its blue skin and the tiny shell parasites clinging to its snout.

 _This creature is thirty meters long but it's completely none hostile? It is unbothered by me?_ That seemed wrong to you; smaller animals were snacks, things to be snapped up if given the chance. You'd certainly done so to Critters and demons which got too close to a much larger demon were either stupid or had a death wish. Especially since the larger demons had far larger stomachs and thus would never turn their nose up at a meal. Even back in Hell with the Roc you'd known better than to actually get within range of her despite her placidity. Calm didn't mean they'd tolerate their personal space being breached.

However as you gingerly flew lower, close enough the huge blue creature could lunge from the water to snap at you if it so wish, it didn't even acknowledge you. Not even when you lowered your wing beats to the point you could almost reach out and touch the skin of the creature beneath you.

After a moments hesitation you folded your wings and dived into the water, your transparent second eyelids shielding your sight from the salt water as you plunged into the frozen liquid with your beak easily parting the surface. Using your wings and tail you easily kept apace with the huge creature which was unbothered by your demonic presence so close to it. You didn't hide your aura but it continued to swim on and now, being apace with it and its kin surrounding you you could hear a strange echoing sound reverberating through the water around you.

_They're singing?_

Carefully you swam close, wings and tail propelling you next to the vast creature before you reached out a hand, taking care not to scratch it with your talons, and gingerly pressed your palm against the vast creature's blue flesh just below one dark eye. 

You expected it to react then, to suddenly lash out at you or for its skin to boil away your flesh or the song echoing through your bones to rise until it burst your ear drums or made you go blind. You expected _something_ to happen. For it to finally rebuke your presence at the fact you dared to touch it.

Instead the creature continued to swim peacefully, huge muscle tail flexing as it propelled itself forward through the icy waters with you clinging to its side. It was entirely uninterested in harming you, as was the rest of its herd. When you turned to look at the other animals you could even spot a few nestlings, barely a quarter of the size of the adults, but even with the vulnerable young near you they hadn't turned hostile.

But then you realized something.

You could _feel_ it.

In Hell you had experimented but your internal senses, much like your seals, would only work upon yourself. You couldn't sense the internal workings of demons, couldn't sense their blood and organs like you could with yourself but with this immense sea creature you could _feel_ its skin beneath your hand, could feel the layer of muscle, fat and tendons underneath. Carefully you pushed your sense through your hand as if you were attempting to push forth a sigil and then your mind was rushing along the arteries of the vast animal, following the flow of blood until you reached its beating heart which was even bigger than you in demon form.

Fascinated you clung to the creature even as it and the rest of its fellows began to dive down, where the water became colder and darker like an abyss but you ignored that as you stretched your senses through the animal's body. You could feel its lungs holding in air, at how the muscles around the nostrils upon its head were clenched tight, of its stomach slowly digesting thousands of tiny crustaceans, of the lightning bolts of energy shooting through the wrinkled folds of its brain.

 _Does this mean this sense and my seals will work on creatures from the Human World?_ It made sense in a way, since you were half human. Perhaps the resistance towards demons titled towards ease of human. 

With deep reluctance you pulled your senses back, now aware of the animal watching you with its big gleaming eye but it still made no movement to attack you or shake you off. The ocean was also near black even if your eyes still let you see but you had a mission to do so you swept your wings through the water to propel yourself back towards the surface and passing several more of the creatures as they continued to dive. The song grew fainter and fainter as they continued to swim into the darkness while you sped upwards with powerful sweeps of your wings, vanishing entirely as your breached the surface and shot up into the air with a burst of water.

You flapped your wings, shaking off dozens of droplets from your sparkling white plumage as you spiralled back up into the air and satisfied you hadn't gone off route. Though the fact you could sense the creature was an interesting phenomena and, as you spotted your destination on the approaching horizon, you made a note to experiment upon humans at the next given opportunity.

* * *

Finding the Gaea was fairly easy; the town the museum was located in clearly banked on it to draw in tourists so there were giant signs all over the place that you'd have to be blind not to notice. Though you'd stopped at the outskirts of the town to hunt and eat a foolish deer that didn't bother to check the sky for predators and once you'd washed off the blood you'd wandered into the town, satisfied your hunger wouldn't distract you. It was more like Limbo City than Fortuna, with the more flat tall buildings that lacked the embellished structures and architecture. Trees flanked the footpaths and brightly lit stores dotted the buildings in sharp comparison to Fortuna's more rustic and dark colouration. It was interesting how humans lived differently despite being all the same species, with the same needs and wants.

The Gaea though was immense, taking up an entire block with the entrance flanked by huge marble pillars. It actually reminded you of the many buildings in Hell in terms of shape and you stopped to touch the pillar flanking the entry doors, half expecting it to have an Underworld scent of vibration to it. But no, it was just plain stone and not even living like the Hell Gate which left you feeling weirdly disappointed.

It was as Syracuse said with most of the museum open to the public and there was a respectful swarm of humans inside. Since you arrived fairly early in a new day you spent the entire opening time searching the exhibits but they were frustratingly lacking in your objective. There was some fascinating things such as old half destroyed pillars and sculptures, ancient paintings and tapestries, wax figures of important humans and walls filled with old parchments of recounts from before and after the split. You did find one of the paintings, no bigger than a napkin, was actually made from demon blood- Hellbat, you were fairly sure -and a tiny sculpture of a melting teapot that was carved from a Ogre horn but neither were magical in nature. Just inert and useless despite you shifting your eyes to truly see.

 _The items must be in the storage warehouse then,_ you thought, noticing the 'staff only' doors as you were ushered outside the building when closing time came. You heard the locks fall in place as you went down the steps but they'd be easy enough to smash open.

Though subtlety was key for this mission so instead you waited until night had fully fallen then leapt up onto the roof and crawled through the ventilation duct after silently pulling out the screws. Due to the building being so huge and, due to the ancient artefacts housed within, the air needed to be carefully ventilated with the ducts snaking through the entire building like giant silver snakes. You'd memorized their directions and location while walking the halls in the day so you kept the mental map in mind as you sidled along. Your senses were stretched out, able to smell the human guards within the Gaea who would stay within the building the entire night. 

You couldn't kill them so you kept your creeping quiet inside the vents despite how much you wanted to manifest your claws. Humans had fairly limited senses so your wiggling went largely unnoticed. Only one woman looked up and you'd frozen, able to hear her breathing below you before she grumbled something about rats and continued her route. 

At least the vent was reasonably clean; you remembered crawling through filth while running free in Hell for a year and while you could tolerate the reek it didn't mean you enjoyed it. The dust was a welcome change and you slowly made your way through the vents until your mental map places you at the far end of the building where the storage warehouse should be. 

Transforming your nails into talons you pried the screws free of the next cover, still keeping your ears and nose alert for any wayward human. With a fluid movement you slipped free, flipping mid-air and manifesting your tail to hang upside down from one of the ceiling support poles. Then you carefully put the vent cover back in place, spinning in the tiny screws before dropping down to the concrete below.

The air here was colder than the main building with the lights dim. The warehouse had rows of towering shelves stacked with covered exhibits which are either in indefinite storage, restoration or awaiting transportation. The sheets of plastic protecting them wasn't a barrier for your sight or senses and you then began the slow task of going through the warehouse.

Several times you had to hide from a human guard patrolling the area, hiding in the shadows of the shelves or leaping up into the support beams to lurk in the dark. Though you were a bit bewildered at how oblivious the humans were, they had less sense than those stupid animal demons like Empusa or Msira. Well it made your job easier at least but as the hours stretched you couldn't locate either of the items nor track down any other ones missed. While walking you used several simple spells of sight and sense to aid you and occasionally you'd stop to scrutinize a specific item and touch it with a blood-fueled sigil to test its potential demonic nature.

Though when you worked your way to one of the next rooms you found it mostly filled with marble structures and when you walked between two shelves there was a fairly large opening where an immense statue took up the majority of space that caused you to pause. You approached the statue curiously and you could smell fixatives lathered in the cracks littering the ancient sculpture's form. It was on a raised plinth and you stopped several feet from the statue to eye the etching in the long dulled plaque hammered into the base.

_Zeus, King of the Gods and ruler of Olympus. Carved by an unknown Sculptor before the fall of Athens during the Demon-Human war._

The statue depicted a muscular bearded man sitting back on a gaudily decorated throne, with thick golden cloth wrapped around his hips and draped around one broad shoulder. In one hand he held a tall golden staff and the other arm was broken at the elbow while there was an eagle sitting at his feet. You eyed it curiously, having to tilt your head back to see the God's stern features as the statue was easily fifteen feet tall and seemed to loom over the rest of the room.

_Did the humans see Lord Mundus and worshipped him as a God?_

You remembered Esta saying derisively about humans would worship anyone and anything and it seemed they had done so with the Demon Emperor just as the humans on Fortuna had done so with Sparda. The statue looked so much like the one in Hell that you worshipped every day with the heavy musculature and thick coiling beard and robes. It lacked Lord Mundus' immense feathered wings but on the whole there was an uncanny resemblance. Of course it didn't encompass all his splendour, much less the overwhelming aura he emanated in the Underworld when you had been graced with his presence but it was close enough you were immensely curious as to who had carved it.

 _At least Lord Mundus is worthy of worship,_ you thought even as you manifested your wings to land on the staff held in the statue's hands, taking care not to scratch the surface as you clung to the smooth ancient gold. This close the stern features of the statue sent a shiver through you even as you brushed your aura against the stone. You half expected this one to be made of Hell materials but it was just normal stone.

So while you were fascinated you had work to do so you jumped back down from the statue but made a mental note to learn more about Athens and Olympus when you'd finished your current assignment. You crept around the surrounding sculptures which were from the same era, including a series of busts from what was labelled as the emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty from first of them being Augustus to the last of them being Nero. There was a flicker of interest into how humanity chose their emperors but already knew none would compared to the rightful Demon Emperor. 

With sharp eyes you checked the busts over for any sign of devil interference but none were what you were after so you then continued on your way. 

Your internal clock let you know you were only a few hours from dawn and you'd only made it through a third of the storage warehouse as you had to check everything carefully before moving on. It would not do to be careless so you didn't mind but had to keep track of when you needed to retreat.

Truthfully you'd expected the end of the night to end with nothing but you finally snagged on something as you started at the beginning of new section, this one dedicated to jewellery and housing machines used to clean and maintain them. Hell jewels never lost their lustre but humans obviously had to make do as you rummaged through a line of bracelets, letting your seal-laden fingertips brush across the old metal and stones.

Then you paused, some faint oddity catching your attention as you paused between the two glass cases as you gaze zeroed in on them. The left had a series of rings placed in a neat circle but the right was empty beside the velvet cushion. The Angelo had mentioned the Vedic amulet and the case would fit it in terms of size and item type. Slowly you leaned forward, eyes burning white and nostrils flaring as you inspected the case intently and-

There, the slightest hint of instability in the glass so you reached out and easily pulled the top half of it off. Someone had sliced the sealed glass case in half so precisely that, if you hadn't been so focused, you wouldn't of even noticed it. The faint disturbance between the two planes of glass where the ripple didn't quite meet properly.

Frowning you put the glass back in place, now knowing that someone- or something -had stolen the amulet first. If it was of devil origin it meant whoever took it knew that as well and they either wanted it for its own enchantment or to break it down for the magic. Though it could have been a human but you were doubtful about that theory.

Either way you altered your intention, now both searching for artifacts and for a potential threat. The humans were to be avoided but you weren't overly cautious or wary of them. Now though there could be something in here and a quick internal check reassured you that your rapier was waiting, ready to serve, and you were as strong as you had ever been. Now however you tucked your aura in tight when before you'd been brushing it across the various objects in case you alerted a potential trespasser to your presence.

However it was only when you went down the next row of shelves did you finally catch something more concrete; It was sudden a change from the humans and the dust that it made your freeze in place. The scent was extremely, so incredibly, faint but fresh- someone had passed through recently but had taken pains to try and minimize their presence. You wouldn't have even noticed it if you hadn't been lingering so much to study the items and now your demon was fully bristling under you skin so your attention was fully taken by the smell. Carefully you stooped down, inhaling at the ground before working your way up the corner of the shelving where the trespasser must of pressed a hand against the steel shelf and left behind the barest trace of their skin follicles against the metal.

After some sniffing you transformed more, golden scales poking across your skin and tongue becoming long and barbed as you licked the metal and tasted the smell. As you did your back bristled as you finally understood what the scent was, why it seemed oddly familiar and realized it had the same conflicting complexities as your own scent. Of a mixture of two differing and conflicting species.

_Hybrid._

* * *


	8. Birds of a feather

* * *

As you snuck through row after row of towering shelves you could feel your skin tingle as you struggled to keep your excitement in check. You'd never met another hybrid, considering you were all an incredibly rare and elusive class hunted by both human and demon alike.

You were distracted enough you nearly forgot about the partially wilted flower jutting from the breast pocket of your coat, quickly plucking the flower free and flicking it off under a nearby rack of plastic-wrapped wood carvings. While you certainly liked the flora of the Human World and its far less hostile disposition, even the nearly non-existent scent of the flower could tip off the other hybrid as you crept through the shelves as silent as a ghost. Now that you'd tasted the other's scent it was easier to catch the incredibly subtle whiffs of the foreign hybrid and a part of you internally noted that, whoever they were, they clearly didn't want to be tracked and had practice at covering their passing.

However you had the nose of a Cerberus, and an incredibly intimate knowledge of the teetering scents between demonic and humanoid person due to being one yourself; this hybrid would not escape your notice.

And, as a matter of your mission, they could potentially compromise it and had already done so if they'd been the one to thieve the Vedic amulet. Said amulet acted much like a Heart, if your knowledge was correct- amplifying spiritual and psychic energy, to help see the truth of things. Though you weren't sure if that description was apt, though amulets tended to follow the rule of three as being creative, destructive or protective. So potentially said hybrid was hunting for demonic artefacts just like you.

Peeling back your lips you bared your teeth, eyes now a glittering white as you looked up to studying the thick support beams cross crossing the roof of the warehouse and just as quickly discarded the idea of hiding up there. You'd be too inconspicuous but the _shelves_ lining the warehouse were thick with museum artefacts and would suffice as a means of hiding yourself.

With that in mind you kept your exceptional senses sharpened to their limits in your human form, just teetering on transforming towards demonic. You hadn't figured out how to switch forms without a burst of aura and the last thing you wanted to do was alert your potential prey of your approach.

Dropping down to all fours you quickly neared the source of the scent, creeping along soundlessly and taking care to keep your blunt human nails as they didn't click on the concrete. You stuck close to the shelves, keeping to their shadows and away from the beams of the florescent overhead lights. As you reached the end portion of the shelves you hear the faint shift of fabric and soft, nearly silent breath so you dared to leap up nearest steel shelf to land silently between a pair of obsidian statues.

_There._

You recognized the Ǒusībùyúnlǚ, resting on a red velvet cushion on a pedestal pushed up against the steel wall of the warehouse between several sets of partially repaired ancient armour and uniforms. But your real focus was on the hybrid standing before the pedestal, back towards you and studying the Ǒusībùyúnlǚ intently.

Carefully you matched your breathing to his even as you kept your aura tucked in close. There was the urge to reach out, to encase the other hybrid in your senses to see if he felt like you did but you forced your excitement down even as your pupils became razor-thin slits as you fixated entirely on the strange half-breed.

From his size you guessed he was more or less the same age as yourself, provided he'd aged the same speed. Though you could see a leanness to his frame underneath the long dark coat he was wearing and when he turned his face to the side slightly to squint at the Ǒusībùyúnlǚ you could see how the pale skin clung to his bones along with dark purple circles ringing his eyes- it spoke of someone who didn't get enough food or sleep, only surviving on the bare necessity to remain functional. Hunted, no doubt. That intrigued you considering you knew demons were far less common in the Human World so maybe it was the humans?

When the other hybrid moved you twitched but all he did was run a hand hurriedly through his bone white hair, pushing it back from his face before muttering something under his breath. You tensed slightly as his hand dropped down to grip the hilt of the long katana strapped to his wrist. It was slightly too large for him which made you guess it wasn't personally forged for his body type- stolen, maybe? 

Though you instantly recognized it for a Devil Arm when he drew the blade from the scabbard; no mundane weapon could shine so wonderfully. Even with your aura smothered to near non-existence you could feel the cold pulse of the weapon and there was a brief flash of longing to hold it in your hands or feel the gleaming blade between your teeth.

Though all that left your mind when the other hybrid slashed the Ǒusībùyúnlǚ with the katana, a odd shimmer appearing across the demonic artefact before it seemed to cave inwards to be perfectly split in half with the magical twine spilling free as its original function dissipated with a sad dying pulse of energy.

You couldn't stop the small, offended noise that escaped you as the other hybrid _destroyed_ a priceless artefact right in front of you.

The stranger was already turning towards you when you launched yourself off the shelf, sending it toppling backwards with a thunderous crash as you leapt across the distance between you both in a single bound. Your instincts automatically switched between stalking to attack as soon you accidentally revealed yourself, and your speed meant he didn't have time to raise his katana to impale you mid-air before you collided with him. You both went rolling but at the very least you'd hit him so hard he lost his grip on the katana which went clattering across the floor.

There was an eerie aura to the sword and instinctively knew you didn't want to be struck by it- it felt cursed or something, you weren't sure how to describe it -and didn't have time to think before you were grappling hand-to-hand with the other hybrid from where he'd been knocked back on the floor, hands now scaled claws and sinking deep into his forearms while snapping at his face with hooked fangs.

The hybrid shoved you backwards, a knee hitting your gut as he bared his teeth, blue eyes flaring bright with demonic energy as he snarled at you. He was strong, nearly managing to throw you off with his thrashing and his knee had ruptured one of your kidneys. In retaliation you headbutted him but in his attempts to dislodge your grip your forehead collided with his own rather than the bridge of his nose, the dull _crack_ echoing through the warehouse. Lurching back your grip on his arms faltered and he took the opportunity to punch you squarely across the jaw, making your teeth clack together as your head snapped to the side. 

You stumbled and fell over, too furious to even think of summoning your rapier as rage ran molten hot through your veins as you demon fixated on killing this interloper. You wanted to get your teeth into this foreign hybrid's face and bite it right off, to hear his flesh tear and bones break under your claws.

With a hiss you threw yourself at the other hybrid from where he scrambled to grab his discarded weapon, hips landing heavily on the small of his back with your knees bracketing his waist to slam him back down, his fingers a few inches from the katana's hilt. You got one arm around his neck in a choke hold and the other clamped hard onto his face, feeling the talon of your index finger puncture through the soft membrane of his eye in a spray of blood and jelly.

His snarl escalated into a shriek, the noise making your demon bristle violently as the spiking auras cracked the nearby glass cases. Baring your fangs you ignored the ringing of your ears to tighten your grip on his windpipe, intending to either strangle him unconscious or get him disorientated enough you could sink your fangs into his nape to break his neck.

Then an elbow collided with the side of your head as he jerked his arm backwards, striking you so forcefully it caused your vision to momentarily black out. Disorientated you reared back as the hybrid underneath you tore free of your clawing grip, slamming back hard on the ground to avoid your blind slash at his face as he twisted around.

A foot struck your sternum so hard it broke, hurling you backwards through a display of ceramic jars and into the steel wall hard enough you dented it.

For a few precious seconds you were stunned before you lurched back upright with a growl, skull healing with coils of steam as you ignored the broken rib impaling one of your lungs. Across from you the other hybrid had snatched up his weapon and, completely ignoring you and his bleeding left eye socket, he slashed the katana blade twice across the air. With a shudder the empty space split open into a simmering purple rift, the hybrid barely giving you a backwards glance as he stumbled into it.

Manifesting your rapier your feathered wings burst out of your back, white plumage shimmering with magic as you hopped back to brace your legs against the wall before hurling yourself forward so fast you were a blur with the tip of your rapier aimed for the base of the hybrid's skull.

Then the rift vanished and you blinked, still mid leap with your sword tip extended where the schism and hybrid had just been. You twisted mid-air, landing on your feet to come to a skidding halt and looked around fro to search for where the stranger had vanished to.

 _Magic? Teleporter? Spell?_ You sniffed, ignoring the bloody foam frothing at the corner of your mouth as your aura stretched out in searching feelers with wings puffed up. But no, even as you inhaled the other hybrid's scent was dissipating, he'd somehow escaped using his sword. A Devil Arm then, the katana was definitely a Devil Arm then but you'd near heard of a sword having the power of teleporting. Maybe a shield or a box or-

Far off shouting caused you to lurch around, breath wet and laboured as you glared about. Damn, the humans were finally investigating all the noise. You cast a quick glance at the Ǒusībùyúnlǚ from where it was lying on the floor several feet away but it was destroyed and you guessed the stranger had done the same for the amulet. 

Grimacing you ignored the sensation of your broken sternum shifting in your chest as you stumbled across the room, crawling up the wall to the air vent like an overgrown spider. Unlike last time you didn't bother to be quiet, instead ripping the panel off and then, after a brief moment of thought, threw a small fireball spell down onto the ground below. The fire burned quickly, eating up a tapestry before crawling up a collapsed shelf to spluttering across the nearby artefacts. It should hide the evident of the fight and you only waited long enough to confirm it had caught before you crawled down the vents.

Behind you it seemed the humans were sufficiently distracted by the fire by their panicked yelling and you ignored it as you crawled out through the vent, dragging off the top when you finally got to the roof of the museum. By then smoke had filled the vent but you held your breath as you squirmed free before sprawling out on the roof. By then your sternum had healed while your ribs slowly threaded back together.

For several moments you remained seated on the roof, breathing heavy as you let yourself heal. The hybrid had been a complete wildcard that you'd been unprepared for and had shamefully caused you to fail your objective. You could only hope Syracuse would understand the assignment had been compromised from the start- it seemed the stranger had the same idea of stealing magical items from the humans though you were still unsure just what he'd done to them with that Devil Arm of his. 

On that line of thought you checked your rapier, noting with curiosity that the first five centimetres of your rapier was missing, cut off as cleanly as if by a knife. You knew it was because the rift had shut and somehow snipped the end off. Focusing your senses into the blade made of your own living marrow you smoothed out the cut off tip until it was pointed and sharp again if not a centimetre shorter. Satisfied your sword was restored back to fighting condition you absorbed it back into yourself.

Then you looked down at your hand, still scaled and long taloned. Your index finger was covered to the knuckle in blood from where you'd clawed the eye out of the strange hybrid during the fight. You wondered if he would heal since you were unsure if there were an base racial traits for hybrids as a cross species. Maybe he'd heal as fast as yourself or perhaps he'd heal as human.

Staring at the warm blood slowly drying on your finger you raised the digit to your mouth and sucked it clean, shuddering at the oddly tart taste of the other hybird's blood. Young, then, much like yourself. Though you'd drawn more blood on him he'd broken more bones but a part of you was still disappointed you'd failed at killing him. You'd eaten demons before and wondered if a hybrid would taste different or the same. Wondered how that sword would taste like. 

But those speculations would have to wait, now you'd need to return to Devil's Dalliance empty handed and explain yourself to Syracuse. You just hoped you wouldn't be punished too severely for your failure.

* * *


	9. The Cannibal

* * *

Syracuse wasn't angry.

After the incident at the Gaea you'd flown at full speed back to Limbo City, the landscape a blur as your body shimmered with demonic energy. You didn't waste time conserving energy like you'd done on the trip there so you reached the City within hours. By then dawn was beginning to break so you shifted back into human form nearly a kilometre above Devil's Dalliance, plummeting down in a dark blur and only briefly manifesting your wings to hover a few feet above the roof with a single flap of your wings. Then you scuttled down to your window, flicking off the seal and sliding inside to quickly make your way through your room and down the corridors to track down Lilith. She had been busy cussing someone out on a telephone in her garishly red office when you knocked on the door frame but hung up and took you to Syracuse right away when you stated there'd been complications in your mission. 

At least it let you know Lilith was subordinate to Syracuse but you didn't have time to think on it further before you were in the candle-laden room with the Angelo. She didn't seem overly bothered by your quick return, just sitting down in her chair while gesturing for you to settle opposite her.

She'd sat there, listening to you carefully recount your experience and subsequent failure- you knew from your lessons from your keeper that detail and consistency was key in any type of reporting so you went through almost excruciating detail about each item you checked and the paths you picked while searching through Gaea. The Angelo didn't interrupt you during your fairly monotonous recollection but she noticeably tensed when you got to the part of the other hybrid's interference and his untoward destruction of the Ǒusībùyúnlǚ, to the point she stood up when you described his appearance, your brief fight and then his subsequent escape.

"Are you certain of this? This half-breed and his teleportation ability?" her voice was sharp as she interrupted you once you began to speak of the fire you caused.

"Yes, completely. I do not understand the method but his weapon was used to open a portal-"

"The weapon was a katana, was it not?"

You'd already said so but knew better than to point that out so you just nodded, "Yes it was."

Her red-tinted eyes flared as she grinned, teeth sharp and glittering in the candlelight, "Good good, this was in the Gaea yes? Wonderful. Another trail and now we may have a specific motive or pattern we can track- wait here."

Swifty she left the room, the candles flames rippling as she all but ran out the door. You remained sitting, hands clasped on your lap as you obediently remained still despite the fact your devil was shifting restlessly beneath your skin. You wanted to go hunt down the hybrid and kill him- it was the first time you'd encountered a fellow half-breed and your demon viewed him as a threat, a rival, and wanted to deal with such a thing appropriately.

As you waited you mentally went through the fight again, replaying it in your mind and inwardly cursing yourself for being so distracted by him destroying the Ǒusībùyúnlǚ. You should've struck him with lightning, stunned his nervous system for precious seconds before impaling his spine with your rapier to paralyse with him. Or blasted him point blank with fire when you'd been grappling with him on the ground. Or fully transformed into your devil self and impaled his skull with your beak. Or let him grab his katana and then bitten the weapon in half. Since it was a Devil Arm you would've been able to break it if you'd gotten your teeth into the blade provided you were fast enough.

Then again a part of you had been curious about the katana so maybe you should've tried just killing him outright and then stealing his sword to study it. The weapon had felt so cold and odd even lying on the ground away from you, you weren't quite sure how to describe it. Maybe the hybrid had been a frost based demon and used a related weapon? You hadn't seen much of his other form besides the long pointed teeth and how his iris' had started glowing with the bright cerulean aura of his devil self. That made you think of the book you'd read in the human library which talked about the Human Hox gene and its influence was why all humans looked the same, why you looked human despite being half demon because that gene was prevalent. He probably had the same gene then and you thought it a pity you hadn't killed him so you could've studied his corpse. Since you could sense that massive marine animal then potentially it mean you would be able to study humans much the same and through being half human that stranger could've been dissected by you.

There was also the lingering desire to eat the other half-breed but maybe that was because you were hungry. Maybe. You still weren't sure of your demon instincts sometimes. Side affect of being raised in isolation for most of your life, you guessed.

The door swinging open snapped you out of your thoughts and you tensed up as Syracuse strode back into the room. She walked over until she was leaning against the rear table, looking pleased with her eyes half lidded like a cats. She drummed her fingers against the wax laden table before smiling at you. She didn't seem hostile but the Angelo's odd actions were putting you on edge.

When it became clear she was just going to continue stare at you while smiling, you politely asked, "When am I to receive punishment?"

She blinked, "Punishment?"

"For my failure in Gaea," you said, guessing that she wanted you to admit your mistakes to her face.

Syracuse just waved a hand dismissively, "Ah never mind that. You tracked down the items but that little cur's interference ruined them so no use crying over it. I do agree that he was no doubt harvesting the magical essence from them but what's done is and done and quite frankly you led us to a better prize so don't you fuss your pretty little head over it, eh? However your speedy return is beneficial since there is a naughty mouse in Limbo City you would be most helpful in hunting down. You can focus on that instead while I worry all about that Gaea incident."

A part of you wished to question the Angelo further and why she was being so blasé about you failing so badly while being so quick to assign you another task but your obedience and desire to please won out as you instead asked, "Who is the target?"

"A human female, quite young but already being a nuisance. It happens occasionally when one of those feeble minded creatures happenstance across magical tomes and the like- this one has been playing with seals and is being a bit of a bother. Nothing too outrageous thus far but it's always best to nip these things in the bud before they become too much into a bother," Syracuse said, even as she handed you a glossy photograph of a human, "The human files are limited with this one but she's commonly referred to as Kat. No family for us to catch and torture in order to lure her out unfortunately but she's getting somewhat annoying. Usually located down at the pier where you should find some of the seals this petty thing had slapped up over the place. Her little human gang is some anti-demon idiocy." Syracuse finished with rolling her eyes.

You studied the photo intently; the human girl was young, with a pale face and dark lines painted around her grey eyes. A small star shaped tattoo was imprinted on her forehead, just above her thin eyebrows. She didn't look particularly strong but your demon, still agitated from your fight with the fellow hybrid, shifted eagerly at the idea of a hunt. You hadn't gone after a human yet, preoccupied with following the mission objectives thus far and hadn't had the time. Now though you were directly given leeway to kill one.

"Will this anti-demon gang be an issue there?"

"They're in their infancy so to speak," Syracuse leaned back against the table, unconcerned at the candle flames flicking at her coattails and sleeves, "There's usually a group of these idiots in every city but they aren't intense numbers or anything. Sometimes hunters will be ones but in this one's case she relies upon wards. While we have our own dedicated to seal work from what I know of you, you'd be a bit faster in pursuit since you can read them instinctively. So far she's managed to escape when cornered with her use of them, such as barriers or wards. So she heavily favours them rather than fighting back but perhaps you'll be shot. An interesting experience it is, being shot for the first time by a human weapon. Maybe you'll get to feel that during your hunt."

Nodding you handed the photo back over, already memorized her features and inwardly wishing you had something with her scent.

"The Bellview Pier is where the carnival, Funland, is also located and our last sighting of the witch and the last several instances of either her or the sigils have been spotted but its quite crowded on days like this so you might get a bit confused. Humans with experience in the demon side of life know that an influx of scents can turn us around and the Funland is fairly popular with those brainless stinky creatures."

"Do you wish for her to be brought back alive?" you asked, perking up as Syracuse mentioned that this human was a witch.

"No. Kill her. And if she leads you back to their little club house then kill all the other humans in there as well. Obviously the usual discretion so if you catch her at the carnival wait until she goes somewhere isolated. Less witnesses the better."

"Understood."

* * *

The carnival, 'Funland', was extremely bright and noisy.

You'd left Devil's Dalliance and had walked to the pier after Syracuse dismissed you. Truthfully you still didn't understand why you hadn't been punished for your failure in Gaea, your keeper had literally beaten it into you that failure was not to be tolerated but the Angelo hadn't been bothered despite everything that'd gone wrong. Instead she'd been oddly excited by the strange hybrid you'd met and because of that your inability to retrieve the artefacts had gone by without retaliation. You'd been on edge waiting to get struck or having your arm broken or _something_ but instead Syracuse had simply dismissed you while telling you to scout around the pier looking for the seals the human girl would put up.

"She'll typically be lurking about but mostly focus on the sigils and using them as a methods of tracking. It'll be integrated in the graffiti, that is the wall art, on the local buildings around and throughout the carnival. Familiarize yourself with her type of seal work and eventually you should come across her, since she'll most likely fix her work if you break enough of them. If you're still confused about graffiti and what it looks like, just search it on your phone," Syracuse had said before dismissing you.

You hadn't had time to tell Syracuse you didn't really know what a carnival was but remembering how she'd told you to 'look up' things on your phone you'd done just that when walking back to your room. Apparently it was a place entirely dedicated to entertainment such as rides and stores. Another human mingling ground, you assumed, much like the park. At least the phone was handy for that type of information gathering, using the little browser app to search for things even if you felt like you'd snap the device by accident if you moved too quickly. Though quite frankly the sheer amount of information humans carelessly left on the 'internet' about themselves disturbed you, they were extremely careless about their own privacy. You made a mental note to investigate the internet further once you caught and disposed of the witch.

While in your room you quickly checked yourself over, making sure you didn't have any lingering blood stains on your clothing. You were mostly clean but had to scrub at the sleeves of your leather coat to get rid of a few stray droplets and scrubbed your face off in the sink to get the bloodstain off your lips and chin. Otherwise your pants, boots and red shirt were fine so you felt no need to change before you checked the direction of the pier before leaping outside.

There was an urge to run right there but instead you kept your walk calm and neutral even if inside you vibrated with tension as your devil slid beneath your skin. You'd never encountered a human witch before and was unsure of what type of fight it would be. Syracuse mentioned guns so maybe this Kat would just try to shoot you though you were fairly sure getting shot in the head by a human weapon wouldn't kill you. Stun you, maybe. Though back to the human, Syracuse had said she knew how to use and utilize seals so no doubt she'd gotten her hands on demonic tomes or had been taught directly which made you very curious. Unfortunately you had orders to kill her rather than torture and interrogation.

You _were_ rather hungry.

Musing on that you walked across the city until you reached the pier, immediately put off by the sheer noise of the carnival. As you crept around the pier- after giving a bored looking human at the gates an 'entrance fee' -you had to resist the urge to wrinkle your nose. Humans smelled very strong on hot days. It was less noticeable when you'd been wandering through the streets before and eating donuts but now with a bunch crammed into a place under the sun and so close to salt water it was almost a festering pool of smell.

Of course some demons just utterly reeked, with certain types even weaponizing their toxic odour, so you did your best to ignore it while scanning the face of each human you passed in the carnival. You would spot this 'Kat' if you got a good look at her face and considering facial tattoos seemed to be in the minority choice for humans she'd stand out. Though if she were a witch you doubted she'd be so stupid. Maybe.

The carnival was loud, bright and active and you spent some time just watching the humans play around. Hell didn't have anything like a carnival since 'gang together with strangers for fun' was really a thing in the Underworld but humans clearly weren't bothered by each other as they played. Some stores just sold food, including fluffy pink and blue clouds on a stick. You ended up buying some and it didn't really taste that nice but the humans obviously liked it considering the lines. There were games involving shooting things with guns but from what you observed the guns were only loaded with small pellets rather than damaging bullets. There was also water hoses, and spinning rides that made your hackles rise, including the giant 'Ferris wheel' that towered over everything else in the carnival. 

You wandered through the carnival, eyes and ears alert as you tracked the edges of the pier and skirted around numerous bright rides and shops. You found several paintings of graffiti, human art that was fetchingly colourful and bold. Unlike the ones in the Gaea the graffiti seemed to be painted on the walls of nearby buildings flanking the carnival and, when you stared out across the pier to a shipping vessel you could see some more graffiti clinging to the stacked containers. 

However you got the first evidence of the human witch as you passed by several rows of games set up against the back fence of the pier and, as you passed the high striker, you spotted more graffiti scrawled onto the brick walls of the industrial complex adjacent to the fair. You sidled around a family unit of humans, eyeing the thick green letters of the graffiti and the sigil that had been cleverly interwoven into the art in the shape of a rising sun. You sidled down the narrow slip between the tents before checking to make sure you weren't being watched to easily hop over the six foot fence. 

The rumbling noise of the carnival was still annoying but at least even just the brick fence lessened it slightly. Shaking that off- and the ugly stench of burnt popcorn that was still curling in your nostrils -you moved closer to the graffiti and the seal hidden within it. The seal was one of detection, essentially acting as an alarm to a small connecting sigil the human witch probably kept on her person. While Syracuse had stated deactivating the seals could lure her out you knew if you tampered with this particular one you'd warn the witch of your whereabouts. 

Carefully, making sure your aura was non-existent so you wouldn't tip off the sigil, you leaned forward and sniffed the seal. Even with the odd colourful paint covering most of it you could still smell the underlying ingredients powering the seal. Curiously enough it was brought together from a variety of ingredients rather than being directly fuelled by magic or a devil. It was interesting as the sigil was still active despite that lack of augmentive so the actual seal shape must provide the strength for it naturally.

It made you think of Esta and how she explained that due to humans not having magic they must make do with other means to create spells through alchemy. That must be what the human witch had been doing, using a combination of magical and mundane ingredients to power a seal. It was an interesting method as you had mostly used your own aura infused blood to make sigils but the roundabout method the human was using sparked your curiosity. But you had your orders from Syracuse and she had demanded the human die rather than capture. Maybe she'd have a book on her or something that showed her learnings.

You spent the following night creeping around the factory side of the pier, finding several more sigils much like the first one you'd found. Occasionally you'd catch a whiff of a human scent mixed into it but the smell of the sigils and their Human World paint masked it enough you couldn't get a proper lead. At several points you had to creep around humans working in the factories or on the ships, eyeing them as you snuck along the catwalks or darted around corners. Most of the structures were huge warehouses filled with crates or machinery, humans obviously preferring their industrial lifestyles compared to the magic of demons. You did scout a few while trying to catch the witch, curious to see if there was any magic but instead you just found rats, nasty smelling machines and barrels. The humans still working didn't notice you, most of them fixing the machines or typing away on their computers that seemed like giant versions of your cellphone. 

It was actually by complete accident that you found the witch, the sun beginning to rise over city as you wandered through the streets between warehouses and occasionally inspecting a piece of graffiti though most were lacking any hidden sigil. Your hood was up and your hands were in your pockets, sticking close to the lengthening shadows when you heard a strange low hissing noise. It sounded like a grumpy Basilisk so you veered off your current path to sidled past an iron fence ringing an abandoned warehouse surrounded by alleyways laden with weeds and moss, and there was the human witch spray painting the wall of the building.

The human was young, barely any older than you with a fairly skinny and lean frame. She was wearing an orange and blue hoodie with the hood pulled up, obscuring most of her features as she focused on the wall while leaning forward on her tiptoes in her dark brown boots. You crept closer, eyeing the can she was using to spray the wall which was an interesting technique. The contents smelled odd even from you being over several yards away but you weren't here to snort weird cans with their weird scents.

Instead you were here for the witch and if not for the low hiss of the can you very nearly would've missed her.

As she was strapping the can of paint back onto her belt once she'd completely her painting the human noticed you and froze in place, grey eyes widening while her lips parted.

She knew.

Somehow, at a single glance, she knew you weren't human. 

For a brief tense moment neither of you moved then the muscles in her legs flexed and she was off, sprinting down the nearest moss-riddled alleyway as fast as her legs could carry her. For a human she was fast, running as fleet footed as a deer without even a wobble to her sprint.

Without hesitation you sprang into pursuit but while you were faster than she was the witch clearly knew the complex a great deal better than you and with the rising sunlight you didn't dare take to the air to track her that way. She was also oddly difficult to track with your nose which made you think she had some kind of scent blocker applied. She _was_ a witch after all and clearly not a stupid one.

Something that hardened into certainty as you skidded around a corner just in time to see her vanish through the wooden doors of an old brick mansion connected to the docks. As the door swung shut you spotted the giant sigil activate across the doorway with a flare of magic and making you come to a halt just outside.

The sigil was immense, covering the majority of the brick wall and clearly interwoven through the graffiti so it looked like a massive stylized gear. Your eyes narrowed, iris' gleaming with white as you quickly read through the curving lines making up the central sealing matrix. It was a ward, specifically designed to repel demons and bar their entry to the building, even if they attempted to creep in through another entrance or the nearest windows. Even just being a half-breed you could feel the way the air pushed against you, how it rebuked your presence. However your human blood meant you could reach out and touch the sigil, feeling your skin burn but not thrown backwards from the humming energy waiting patiently. Still, it was ward also meant to repel malicious invaders and you certainly meant that human harm so it wouldn't let you cross.

However you were the worst opponent possible for the witch, with your instinctive knowledge of reading and understand sigils. While the seal was strong and perfectly made you could still see the means to unlock it as you stepped back to eye the numerous curves and lines making up the seal. Sigils such as wards were like keys; if they could be locked to repel invaders then they could just as easily be unlocked to let someone in provided you knew how to look. Which indeed you did.

After ten minutes of studying the foreign seal, running through numerous methods and phrasing until you were certain, you pushed blood out from underneath your index fingernail to which you then shaped the crimson stream into a magic-infused sigil. Carefully you studied the massive ward affixed to the doorway of the warehouse, editing parts of your own sigil as it floated next to you and tweaking part of the central unlocking matrix until it was a perfect fit for the human created one. Delicately, softly, you placed your magic-infused seal over the one covering the wall. The blood seeped through the brick and metal, bubbling slightly as the charm counteracted the one spray painted on the building's surface. 

For a brief moment nothing happened until with a gust of releasing magic the human-made ward collapsed. To the naked eye it would seem like nothing happened but your senses could see how the magic shimmered into nothing as the seal now just became colourful artwork.

Shoving open the door you slipped inside you quickly began to search the area, using your aura like feelers. While the woman wasn't a demon she should react to your aura since she'd know you were a threat, much less one that could break past her defences. You could feel your heartbeat quicken as your nails sharpened into long claws as the excitement of the hunt heated your blood. The carnival had been annoying and loud but this was exciting; you knew your prey was near and now all you had to do was corner her.

The witch was smart and had retreated underground, you finally ripping aside a bookcase in one of the rear dust-filled rooms to find the entrance to the cellar. There was another seal on the doors, this one not even hidden but after a few minutes you successfully deactivated it before slipping down into the cellar. It seemed like a smugglers tunnel, something that turned into certainty when you reached the end of the narrow corridor and opened the hatch to find yourself in another warehouse, rusted and filled with dozens of thick steel containers. And the human, who'd been crouched in the middle of the room scribbling something on the concrete floor, snapped up when she heard you open the hatch and backed up. As she did she pulled back her arm hurled a bottle of sparkling liquid at you in a perfect arc.

You dodged and it burst on the door frame next to you, quick enough to avoid getting soaked but not quick enough to avoid several droplets splattering across your exposed hand and chin. The solution burned like acid, your devil self roiling violently with the sensation. Luckily you were human enough the repellent didn't eat too far into your hand but your fingers cramped wildly while the flesh of your jaw melted like warm wax.

Ignoring the pain you leapt up onto one of the nearby shipping containers, plucking several feathers from your manifested wing and hurling them like throwing knives as the human ducked. Six missed or only grazed but the seventh plunged deep into her shoulder, right at the joint. She cried out, stumbling and nearly falling face first onto the concrete floor but you were already moving in quick jumps across the scattered cargo containers before leaping down at her like a hunting hawk. The human barely avoided your strike, blood spilling past the pale feather sunk into her flesh as she blasted you point blank with the spray can before you could strike her.

Blinded you lashed out with your wings, feathers as sharp as any blade as they struck out at her. You heard her yelp of pain and hot blood sprayed across your plumage while hearing the impact of her body against the concrete. You scrubbed a hand across the horrible smelling paint clinging to your face but only succeeded in smearing it in even further. It was sticky and absolutely reeked, completely obscuring your vision as if you'd gone blind. You shoved back your hood, tilting your head as you switched from mainly using your vision to now prioritizing your hearing and sense of smell.

Unfortunately you quickly found out the smell of the paint was foul enough it also crippled your sense of smell so you were not only blind but suffering from anosmia. Snarling you cocked your head to the side, hearing the human and her wheezing breath as she fled. You followed, using your wings like feelers to avoid running into the containers or walls as you followed the noises of her stumbling further through the building.

As you ducked through into a hallway you quickly scribbled a ice spell on your hand before smashing it right into your face. Hoarfrost sunk deep into your skin and eyes as the freezing magic engulfed your features but you ignored the spiking pain to further harden the ice until it was even stronger than concrete. Then in a ripple of agony you clenched your talons into the spell to peeled off the skin of your face as if it like were a mask, revealing the twitching mass of muscle and tendons underneath along with completely ripping off your eyelids and corneas. Steam billowed up from the wounded flesh but you ignored the horrendous sensation to set fire to the peeled skin in your hand until it was nothing but ash.

Now you could utilize your scent of smell without that horrible gunk clogging your nostrils, especially since you were still blinded. Ignoring your healing, open wounds you tore off the nearest door with a horrible screech of metal to burst into the stairwell with a thunderous crash. Your rage manifested as a sparkling white mist across your skin as golden scales formed up your legs and arms while your demon rose and made the air bristle with murderous intent.

The human was wounded and with your senses narrowing down you could following her blood trail easily as she'd fled to the upper level of the building. As you crashed through the door of upstairs office you took another flask of magic right to the face. You didn't care even as the corrosive fluid ravaged the exposed muscles of your skinned features, instead letting out a screech as harsh as a harpy's as you launched yourself to where the human's scent and laboured breathing was. 

You struck her side, feeling your talons catch on the fabric of her hoodie before ripping into her arm right to the bone. Your hardened wing feathers sliced through the desk in the office and cut two of the filing cabinets in half even as melted muscle and bone dripped off your face to splatter across the floor. This close you could hear the panicked gasps of the human before plank of wood collided with your head, hard enough it broke and you stumbled to the side. One of your wings hit the human in the side, hard enough you knocked her over even as you swayed and dropped down to all fours while the potion continued to eat at your peeled face like acid.

Clawing blindly at the ground you felt your fingers wrap around the witch's boot, talons digging into the leather and yanking the human back towards you. You didn't even bother manifesting your rapier or the sai- instead you clawed your way up the witch's body, slamming a knee into her gut to keep her pinned o the ground before pulling on her injured arm so hard you popped the shoulder joint out of its socket. Then you sank your other taloned hand hard into her scalp to dig into bone, yanking her head back as you buried your hooked fangs into her throat and bit it out in a spray of blood.

Her frantic struggles slowed as you gnawed your way through the rubbery tube of her esophagus, a hand smacking into your shoulder as she flailed underneath you in a futile effort to escape. Enraged at the struggles you didn't stop tearing at her throat until you decapitated her, the witch's body twitching in death spasms as your teeth splintered the bones in her neck to tear her head completely free with a wet tearing noise. Her head hit the ground with a dull _splat_ but you ignored it as your demon swelled to the forefront of your mind, skinned face burning as you dug your sharp claws into her chest to gouge past fabric and skin to dig into her ribcage. 

Using your hooked fangs you crushed her ribs between your teeth, swallowing down the bone until you got to the organs inside and ignoring the odd burning you felt briefly sear your cheekbone. You ate her heart, blood drenching your front and sliding through the golden scales of your arms as you stuffed the crimson muscle into your mouth to tear it apart with hooked fangs before swallowing it down. Licking your lipless mouth you dug back into her cooling corpse for more substance to aid your healing and sate your surging hunger.

You ate her lungs, chewing at the rubbery pink organs even as the layers of skin on your face healed with curls of steam. By the time you finished off the lungs the skin was fully healed and your eyelids reformed with a faint white shimmer. You blinked, scaled hands buried in the witch's exposed gut as your eyes finally healed and you could see again.

Breathing heavily you sat back on your rump, demon now sated as you relaxed. You rubbed at your mouth with a scaled hand, licking the warm blood from your claws and lips before looking down at the witch's corpse. The ribcage had been cracked open like the jaws of a bear trap and some of the organs were still twitching inside. After a moment you leaned forward to peer inside her exposed gut, noting how her organ and muscle placement mimicked your own and the numerous digrams your keeper'd had you study back in Hell. Reaching inside you dug through the flesh until pulled out her kidneys, using a sharp nail to snip off the clinging ureter before swallowing them down whole.

For nearly five minutes you lingered around the corpse, gnawing on a bone or fishing out an organ or tearing at the muscles as you fed. You only stopped when your hunger was sated, front covered with gore and arms caked to the elbow in blood with your stomach full.

You gazed absent-mindedly at the partially eaten body and then at her head lying on the ground a few feet away before you noticed the small amulet lying on the floor next to her decapitated trunk. Cocking your head to the side you reached out and scooped up the necklace.

The amulet burned the skin of you palm the moment you picked it up, a sharp burn that quickly reddened the golden scales beneath the talisman. You dropped the necklace onto the ground, knowing it had been the thing to burn your face before when you'd torn into her chest. Interesting, she must've been well prepared for an encounter with demons. She wasn't prepared for you, however, and thus died for it.

A pity. 

You picked over her corpse but couldn't find any books or notes on her but you did take the can that had been strapped around her waist. You wanted to break down the ingredients and how the human-made alchemy came to be. Or perhaps Syracuse would want to keep it on hand so you tucked the can into the inside pocket of your coat and, after a moment of thought, carefully picked up the amulet and added it as well though you could feel the faint burn of it when it brushed against your pants leg. Then you got to your feet, already knowing you'd have to set fire to the warehouse to get rid of the evident of the killing. Knowing fire spells _were_ quite handy and humans seemed to set fire to things often enough anyway so they wouldn't see it as overly suspicious. You'd just have to be careful sneaking back to Devil's Dalliance in your current state so maybe you'd have to take a quick swim in the nearby ocean to clean off the blood and gore.

But before you did that you bent down and picked up the human's head, grabbing a fistful of the short brown hair and smiling faintly. Syracuse would want proof of you killing the witch and you guessed handing over her decapitated head would be good enough evidence of you succeeding in your mission this time.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I actually like Kat


	10. Sneak

* * *

_"Tonight, a stowaway demon terrorizes space shuttle astronauts. But first, a recap on the fire which broke out along the wharf front earlier this evening. The fire reportedly started at one of several abandoned warehouses located on the east industrial end of Bellview Pier. The warehouses, previously used to repair and resupply shipping vessels, has been standing empty for nearly five years when its ownership company fell into bankruptcy. The fire, of which the source is still unknown, quickly spread to the surrounding buildings, gutting most of the block before firefighters got the blaze under control. Luckily no injuries were reported though due to the risk of smoke inhalation Funland will remaining shut for the rest of the weekend with management apologizing for any inconvenience caused. You are watching the nine o'clock Raptor News report. I'm Leanna Kennedy with today's top stories."_

You took a handful of marinated bacon from the bowl in your lap before stuffing the cold meat into your mouth as you watched the television avidly while bright commercials rolled on in place of the news report. You had gone back to your room after handing over the witch's head to Syracuse, now bundled up on your bed in a nest of blankets with the amulet and can resting next to you with a notebook balanced on one knee. Syracuse hadn't been at Devil's Dalliance when you returned so Lilith had you wait patiently in a room for three hours until the Angelo returned from whatever errand she'd been running. The Angelo had been legitimately surprised at how quickly you'd caught and killed the witch, the older demon pleased with your success. She'd also permitted you to keep a hold on the spray can and amulet to study, pointing out your penchant for augmentative and aura sensitivity made you a fairly good candidate to breaking down the ingredients or method with them. You eagerly accepted, remembering your lessons with Esta, and Syracuse also amended your mission to spending the next few weeks hunting the other witches in the city. She said you could divide up your tasks between hunting the other members in the city and dedicating yourself to figuring out the methods behind the little anti-demon group with their seal work research to hand in to the Angelo later, to which you to agreed without issue. 

Once done she shooed you off and when you returned to your room you took a very thorough shower- you'd jumped into the sea when going back to Devil's Dalliance just to rid yourself of most of the blood but you'd still been a gory mess when you returned to the club. It didn't really bother you personally but you'd known better than to be spotted by any wayward humans and once cleaned you'd stuck your bloodied clothes into one of the laundry bags and left it outside your door for one of Lilith's servants to pick up. Then you'd changed into some new underwear before rummaging through the stocked fridge to find meat labelled 'honey marinated smoked bacon' to which you dumped all six bags into a bowl before heading to your bed.

The television was fascinating to watch. Your keeper had taught you about human technologies and you knew some demons had the ability to high jack such things or parasite the machinery but it was still rather different with interacting with it directly. Now though you were on the 'Raptor News channel' and a part of you was taken aback at how _open_ humans were about their current affairs and movements. In Hell you could certainly hear about things but humans just broadcasted everything happening in their society constantly. The News channel was entirely devoted to that, with humans chattering about everything from the stock market and tax season to murders and arson.

Though it was interesting for you to find out the fire you started in the docks had spread. There was an assumption humans policed their cities fairly vigorously but considering the fire had burnt down numerous surrounding building proved that wrong. The lack of magic most likely contributed as humans were fairly slow. That and none had elemental resistances so you guessed they couldn't just walk through a burning building without ending up as a roast. Well you couldn't either, not without having fire fired flesh which at least you could heal from the injuries but you weren't one of those demons from the Fire Hell which were healed and nourished by flames. Hm. Maybe that was something you could investigate later or find a way to buff your elemental resistances as well. Maybe carving the seals upon yourself?

You stuffed the last mouthful of bacon into your mouth, thinking about the witch and the dark swirling tattoos she'd had on her hands. In hindsight you should've taken the whole body back with you to test but you'd been aggravated. Though it had given you the opportunity to finally hunt a human and you'd been surprised at how much damage the witch had been able to inflict upon you. The fluid within the flasks she'd struck you with had clearly been specifically made to harm demons and you'd lucked out in being a half breed so it wasn't as potent but even so the potion had done fairly intense damage to you.

Studying the amulet had also been interesting- it was magic in origin with the small bead in the centre actually being crystallized holy water. The metal itself was quicksilver but you were able to deduce it had a spell woven through the metal, most likely by a mage smith during the actual forging process. It had been enough to burn your hand so with a pure demon it probably would've been strong enough to cause one to reflexively drawback to buy the witch time to retaliate or escape. Either way it was very artfully made but even picking over it for nearly an hour while watching television you couldn't find any signatures on it. You knew the likes of Machiavelli would sign all his work so everyone knew who was the original crafter was as a source of pride but obviously the witches valued their secrecy over pride for their work. A wise decision on their part but it was a bit annoying as you were curious as to how humans made magical items.

As for the can you managed to sniff out quite a few things from the foul smell junk- you could catch the whiff of sea salt, iron and several animal by-products that you couldn't pinpoint. You scribbled that down on the notebook balanced on your knee, which was already filled with pages of your break down of the witch's seals that you'd seen and deactivated while chasing her. It was difficult to write down the aspect of the seals as you couldn't fully articulate how the magic had felt but you tried your best- even if another part of you rankled at the idea of writing down the method so obviously as you could feel your keeper's disapproval but Syracuse had demanded it.

Eventually you turned off the television and tucked the amulet and can into the bedside drawer along with the notebook before settling down for the night. You weren't overly concerned about something raiding your room while you slept but you nonetheless etched in a simple locking sigil on the wood before sleeping.

* * *

It was still dark when you awoke, barely past midnight. At least you didn't need a great deal of sleep, especially after eating so much earlier so you shoved the blankets around your bed before going to the bathroom to wash up. You made sure to check over yourself for any negative effects or lingering injuries but you'd healed cleanly. Then you picked a red hoodie, dark blue jeans and the leather boots for your outfit for your night foray into the city before leaving your room to track down Syracuse and handing over the notebook. While you weren't worried about losing it you'd prefer it if the risk of the sigil work didn't fall in the wrong hands and the easiest way to deal with that was to just give the Angelo your workings. As before she seemed surprised you'd finished it so quickly but you assured her you'd take note of any other seals you'd potentially come across to record later which she accepted. She let you keep the amulet and spray can, telling you to do 'whatever' you wanted with it. You figured you could try breaking it down fully later on but also remembered Esta's warning that the base ingredients would always be lost in alchemy.

You did end up poking said amulet when you got back to your room, watching as the skin of your fingers blistered slowly before tossing it back in the drawer. Then you pulled out your phone, checking the time and the weather- that was another neat thing of the Human World, able to track weather so easily. Honestly, the humans had it so easy. Little wonder they died in the thousands whenever demons broke through. On that thought you did think back to your devourment of the witch, so maybe you'd hunt another human for a meal when your hunger returned. Would a normal human taste different compared to a witch? The hybrid's blood had tasted radically different that the witch but a witch was still fully human. You weren't sure.

Though it did make you check the other default apps on your phone when you exited the weather one, poking at the screen curiously- there was one for videos, music, themes, photos, a calender and something called an email. However one of the apps was just labelled 'Devil's Eye' and had a stylized eye with a slit pupil and red iris as its icon. Wondering if perhaps it was another way to update you on missions assigned you doubled tapped it and a browser window popped up, the circle rotating as it loaded into a fairly bland page of grey dominated by a thin title with a column of links below.

  
Welcome to the Devil's Eye Limbo  
  
The Abattoir- Providing you with the freshest range of premium cuts from Long Pig.   
  
Tranquil- Help with sensory issues.   
  
Say Yes to Demons- Looking for a friend?  
  
Licks- Tongue fun ;p   
  
VVitch- Embrace sisterhood.   
  
Lush Liquor- Only the finest of demonic bodily fluids for sale.   
  
Genuine Human Hide- Luxurious leather clothing tailored for you.  
  
ヤンデレ- Where like minded people come together for support and advice.   
  
LARP- Dress up time.   
  
Back Alley Knives- For all your cheap surgical needs.   
  
Hells Kitchen- Hungry for a more dangerous game?   
  
Mama Mia- For any and all man needs.  
  
Eye Scream- From accidental trips to intentional.  
  
Snuffle's Snuff- Will do commissions :3   
  
ASCII& HTML- Tutorials and walk-throughs.   
  
New Age Paganism- Newcomers always welcome.  
  
Cleaners- Discount for repeat customers.  
  


That was odd and you weren't quite sure what each was. You ended up tapping the Genuine Human Hide one and it opened another window to an online store selling clothing, mostly jackets and coats but also trousers, vests and boots. There wasn't much use for you considering Lilith had given you a fairly ridiculous amount of clothes though you had to admit one of the dark great coats was very nice and you scrolled through the several pictures of it before checking the description on the side. The tailor for the clothing was apparently a mother of four and grandmother of seven, with many decades working in leather. You remembered making your own leathered clothes while free ranging it in Hell so you could respect her experience, as it wasn't exactly the easiest of material. Before you could check the other links a knocking it your door caught your attention so you tucked your phone back into your hoodie pocket before answering it.

"Oh good, you're still here," Lilith smiled at you. 

You just stared back impassively.

After a moment Lilith rolled her eyes, resting her wrinkled hands on her hips as she said, "Anyway I need you to do a pick up for me while your frolicking around the city. Nothing too serious, just nickin' something from under the noses of some of the local humans. They're not too bright so it should be easy enough."

"What is it?"

"A briefcase. You know what that is?" At your nod she continued, "Good, there's a construction site several blocks from here north ways- the humans are being annoying so I want you to stir them up. Their little meeting is right in the ass end of the parking lot down there and the briefcase is a handover between two of their little 'gangs' so I want you to flog it so they'll go back to killing each other. Don't get caught until you have it and they should take care of the rest to go back to their turf wards. It keeps the local law enforcement sniffing after those brain dead criminals rather than around here. And once you grab it toss it into the rubbish bin at the end of the block, near the playground. Since you're such a good little worker bee I'll expect it to be done in the hour."

"Understood," you said, accepting the additional mission without complaint. Though you wondered what a human would have to do in order to be a criminal. It wasn't exactly something that happened in Hell.

Lilith patted condescendingly you on the head, lips parted to show too much of her blunt teeth as the stolen skin of her face stretched grotesquely. You felt the urge to tell her about the webpage of leather coats- maybe she could buy a better body suit. Then the demon turned and trotted off down the hallway and you shut the door, locking and then activating the ward before finally taking your leave.

Limbo City was still bright despite the late hour, the soft glow of thousands of lights illuminating the countless buildings. You perched on the windowsill before tugging up your hood then flipping around so your claws sank into the stone of the wall as you sealed the window before launching yourself off onto the nearby roof and took off at a brisk clip. 

The atmosphere of the city was different at night and you noticed how differently humans behaved in the dark as you dropped down into a nearby alleyway and walked along the streets. Humans weren't a nocturnal species so it was interesting to see so many wandering about, though the sheer amount of lights left on rather made it a moot point. You did notice a fair amount of foot traffic heading towards Devil's Dalliance which was amusing- even outside and a block away you could feel the shimmering pulse of demonic activity. How humans were so oblivious to the predators in their midst you'd never know.

Tucking your hands into your hoodie's pockets you carried on down the footpath, ignoring the occasional human that glanced at you as you walked. From what the app said the weather would be cloudy with a chance of showers in the morning but you weren't overly worried considering how mild even Human World storms were compared to the likes in Hell. As it was though the sky was cloudy but you could occasionally see patches of the night sky with the twinkle of stars high above.

Then you had to nimbly sidestep a gaggle of intoxicated humans, wrinkling your nose at the stench of their sweat and the reek of alcohol on their breath. There was a lingering urge to hiss at them but you smoothed down your irritation as you continued to walk down the streets. Some of the shops that'd been shut during daylight hours were now open, lights seemingly to be either a glaring neon or warm like the glow of a fire with the occasional human lingering outside smoking or drinking. There was also a horrible amount of loud music and you were relieved to leave those shops behind as you approached the site Lilith told you about, the streets becoming more empty and the illumination now only the street lights and occasional apartment.

Sliding further into the shadows you skittered around the corner, seeing the partially finished high-rise building ahead which took up the entire block. The barrier fence didn't bothering you, instead just jumping over the six foot fence easily and landing soundlessly on the other side. It was mostly dark except for the occasional flood light, the intensity enough that it made you squint in irritation as you sidled by to press yourself against the nearest support pillar. Then you spotted a group of humans inside, armed and alert, so you figured you were in the right place. Carefully you shifted into a crouch, sticking close to the dark as you eyed the concrete expanse of the building to deduce the best way to proceed.

The ground floor seemed to be predominantly a parking lot, with several construction vehicles parked inside and the ceiling mostly filled with exposed wires and piping. Occasionally you passed a large shipping container filled with more building tools, along with humans milling back and forth. The agitation emanating from them put you on edge, eyes shimmering in white as you quickly slid under a moving van as a duo of humans walked by you. Pressed down in the shadows you could see how the one on the left was armed with a pistol casually dangling in his hand while the other was wielding a shotgun. These ones were clad in clothing of red and as you quickly slid out from under the van and further into the lot you noticed the other group would be wearing articles of yellow. From the mutual glaring you guessed the colour coding was so the humans could more easily judge who were their allies and who were their enemies.

It was interesting and you could help but study the humans as you crept silently through their midst. They were all armed, though some only had pistols while others had shotguns or automatic weapons. You hadn't been shot yet so the potential to be so was intriguing. The witch fought with her potions and that pale hybrid just attacked you with his bare hands but wielded a sword. It was strange how the fully 'normal' humans all had guns while the outliers used more unconventional methods.

That line of thought did turn back to food- not just in eating a mundane human but what the hybrid would taste like if you'd managed to kill him back in the museum. You'd eaten frost devils before and their meat, their essence, had a different flavour to it compared with demons aligned with fire.

Your nails sharpened into talons as your teeth became hooked, creeping close behind a human as he walked further down the lot towards the ramp to the lower level and using his movements as a shield before you quickly darted against a pole as he turned around. You shoved all thoughts of the fellow hybrid from your mind, not wanting to risk being distracted while trying to be as silent as possible. While you didn't fear the humans you at least wanted to get the case first before you killed any. Last thing you wanted was from them to flee with it and chasing the humans through the city wouldn't exactly be keeping a low profile.

At the very least you could easily smell the humans and occasionally hear their breath so you kept your movements low and careful. The lot was annoyingly huge but it was darker as you snuck down the ramp to the lower level of the car parking, as you nearly collided with one of the humans and leapt silently behind a truck to avoid being caught. He'd whipped around, pulling up his pistol as he picked up on the brief flash of your presence but his companion just looked annoyed as he peered up the ramp next to the other human.

"Stop being so twitchy, you'll set everything off," he snapped, shoving his friend until he dropped the aim of his pistol back to the ground. Pressed against the truck you dropped onto all fours to creep beneath the vehicle to sneak by.

"This is taking too damn long," you heard the other mutter.

"Look we just have to get the deal done and then we can get out of here."

"Really? Those shitheads are gonna backstab us. I dunno why the boss is trusting them."

"Stop being a goddamn pussy. Gonna piss yourself like last time?"

"Fuck off!"

You made a face as you inched along the parking garage though you noticed all the vehicles in this lower level were dark with tinted windows. Probably belonged to the gangs using the construction site as a place holder meeting though you noticed the underground area was mostly completed. You didn't really like being underground though, but you also shoved that to the back of your mind as you inched further down.

At the very least the humans were fairly oblivious, seemingly more content to talk to each other than pay attention to you skulking around them. It was easy to silently duck behind the parked vehicles or freeze in one of the shadows with the humans completely bypassing your presence as they seemed more focused on glaring at one another. By the time you got to the end of the lower parking lot you could hear two people talking, voices snide and tense. At the end was several large vans with two groups of humans facing one another and you knew right away this was the odd hand over meeting.

 _Where is it? Lilith mentioned it would be during this 'hand over' so it should be with the leaders somewhere,_ You cocked your head to the side, remaining crouched down next to the van as you eyed the two groups of humans. They were still quite helpfully colour coded for convenience with the ones on the right favouring red while the ones on the left favouring yellow much like those you'd passed while creeping up the building. 

Two of the humans on either side didn't seemed to be armed however, so your gaze fixated them and how they seemed to be conversing while the others just watched. For demons it was far easier to deduce who was the leader simply from how strong their aura was but humans had nothing like that so you were unsure. You crept closer and closer, pressed tight against the wall and hiding in the shadow of the support pillar until you were close enough you could reach out a hand and touch the nearest guard. Maybe the lack of weapons was a show of superiority for the two in the middle? Either way neither seemed to have the case from your current angle so after a moment you pushed out your aura, faint enough it was like a fine mist. Some of the humans tensed but from the way their glares increased in intensity they were obviously blaming the tension in the meeting of leaders. At the very least they were focused enough on one another they didn't bother to check behind them.

It was profoundly more difficult to sense humans and you bit your tongue, trying to use the taste of your hybrid blood as a base for sensing humans. It didn't work at all, but using your aura sharpened your senses to the point you could hear the heartbeats of the humans several feet from you and another one further away, lingering in the nearby stairwell off to the left of the yellow group. That was the only place you could think of, considering the two in the middle seemed to be haggling each other with barely contained annoyance.

Carefully you sniffed, inching forward as you crept past a group of humans on your stomach beneath the vehicles while the humans eyed one another with barely contained hostility. It took nearly three minutes before you could get into the stairwell without being noticed and you didn't want to risk setting off the tension so you waited until the yellow boss started tapping his hand angrily and making everyone tense further before you could slip in without notice. You completely lucked out in the fact the human inside was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, fingers drumming on the silver case of the briefcase so he completely missed you appearing next to him.

 _Briefcase, check._ He was tall and broad but you could smell the nervous sweat on him as you silently slunk further inside the stairwell to get out of line of sight for those in the garage. Unlike the others he didn't seem to be colour coded, instead clad in greys. Maybe a neutral party? Much like yourself, then.

Then swiftly you moved forward, manifesting your wings to flex one forward with hardened feathers to snip the man's head right off his shoulders. You quickly grabbed a handful of his shirt and his severed head in your hands, wings cupping the briefcase as it fell from his now listless fingers to avoid making noise. Carefully you lowered his twitching corpse, ignoring the hot blood that sprayed across your face from the stump of his neck. Swiftly you tucked your wings away and picked up the briefcase, choosing instead to disappear up the stairway instead of creeping back through the parking lot.

When you shoved open the door to exit through the upper floor you set off the fire exit alarm with a loud annoying shriek. Below you heard one of the humans shout as they no doubt discovered the headless corpse below before gun fire started cracking through the air. Oh well. Lilith _had_ said you should encourage the humans to start killing each other and clearly this group had been waiting for any excuse to attack one another. Finding the one with the goods dead probably meant both sides decided to blame the other and react accordingly. You weren't complaining as when you darted outside onto the ground floor the humans were too preoccupied with shooting each other to notice you sprinting across the grounds to pounce over the fence to get out of the firefight breaking out.

By the time you were stuffing the briefcase into the garbage bin Lilith mentioned the law enforcement had shown up at the across the road building with flashing lights and screeching tyres, only to promptly get into a gunfight with the irate humans inside. Other humans were watching around the surrounding streets, some having the sense to run though most were watching the police with gormless looks on their faces before one of the officers started yelling at them to get back. 

You took your cue to hurry down the street on swift before ducking into the nearest dark alleyway out of sight.. Even over two blocks away you could hear the sharp crack of the firearms and faint screaming but it was hardly anything more than what you'd witnessed in Hell. So ignoring that you instead wiped the blood off your face, eyeing the crimson smeared across your palm before curiously licking it off. It tasted slightly different than the witch's blood but both and witch and the human's lacked the sharp tart tang of the hybrid's. You sucked at your fingers, sharpened teeth scraping against your knuckles before you jumped nearly a foot in the air as some vibrated in your pocket.

Awkwardly you snapped out of your daydream, wiping off your slimy fingers on your jeans to pull out your phone which was lit up with a message. You unlocked it, surprised to realize Syracuse had sent you a message- a set of coordinates and a short, precise order.

  
Syracuse: The witches can wait.  
Syracuse: You have a book to pick up.   
  


* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh with the MC skulking around the city in a hoodie all I can think of is playing as a Gangrel from Vampire the Masquerade- Bloodlines which is my current playthru lol hence the parking lot sneakfeast. Speaking of which, if you haven't played VTM I 100% recommend it even if it is old and yaaaay Bloodlines 2 coming out next year!


	11. Book of the Dead

* * *

The Necronomicon. Also known as the Book of the Dead or Al Azif.

You knew the Necronomicon was a grimoire, bound in human flesh and written in blood from an unknown author. While the tome _did_ contain a great deal of information about necromancy it was fairly detailed about numerous demon species, including the far more elusive and potentially extinct types, but also contained summoning rituals and sigil work along with powerful banishment spells. Though notability the most valuable thing about it would be the summoning rituals, especially since it could be a means to allow Lord Mundus to take his rightful place as King of the Human World as well.

Already your mouth was watering at the potential in the lost book.

After the brisk text message from Syracuse and a small slue of instructions- and a brief thought as to how you need to investigate how such human 'technology' actually worked -you took off from Limbo City and made your way across the country in devil form, flying on a brisk breeze and keeping yourself to top speed. You flew up high enough you could see the long curve of the planet, knowing how the Human World was fixed in the shape of a singular globe. Completely unlike the shifting roiling landscape of Hell. However it made navigation so much easier even if at your current height the air was thin and hard to breath in. You also had to keep a low level heat spell encased around you as frost kept building up along the lines of your wings and throughout your plumage which interfered with your flight.

But while the Necronomicon was fairly coveted it was also incredibly illusive- much like Mallet Island or the Asphodel Meadows or Svartálfaheimr within the Human World, where the Necronomicon lay it would move at the start of each day but in the Necronomicon's case if anyone attempted to breach its hiding place but failed to pass the extensive spell weave it would cause it to disappear for a century before resurfacing. Since Sparda couldn't truly sever all magic from the Human World without killing the humans living there, the lingering charm from the days where the two worlds used to be fused together still remained in small scatterings across the world. Most humans wouldn't notice but you were quite a bit different from the average human. Though you had noticed humans had words for picking up magic, such as sayings as 'Goose walking over my grave' or comments about feeling 'bad vibes' even if they didn't understand what they were exactly sensing.

However you were fairly far removed from the average human as when you flew over an island mass called Panchaia, flying high above the clouds so you could be mistaken for a bird, that even from so high you could sense the odd dense miasma emanating from a cave mouth at the tip of the island's north most cove. Your feathers bristled along the length of your wings, unsure of what the energy even was- it didn't seem alive or hostile, so perhaps it was just tangled magic from the manifestation? Or maybe it was form the book itself, since that thing had been created far before the human-demon war or the split.

Tucking in your wings you shot down silently, covering the distance between you and the island in seconds. At the last moment you flared out your wings, shifting mostly back to human barring your limbs and wings as you landed on one of the sea salt soaked stones.

Then you got ambushed by a Banshee. You were actually fairly caught off guard- not just because the Banshee had been so good at hiding herself but because this was the first actual demon fight you'd gotten into in the Human World. The demons you'd encountered thus far had been either in a human disguise or laying low but this water demon just burst out of the surf and attacked you in her true form. 

The devil resembled a drowned human woman with sunken, wrinkled flesh the colour of sea glass. Her hands and fingers were stretched out and clawed with her mouth an over stretched black maw filled with needle-like fangs. Her hair twisted and coiled around her like a dark mass of seaweed, the tattered remains of her white dress barely clinging to her emaciated body.

You knew Banshees where demons who used to be humans. Ones whose soul, in the brief flash of death, became warped from lingering traces of magic or deep overpowering emotion. You also knew they had a highly volatile scream so when you dodged her sharp talons you jammed your own claws in your ears, destroying your ear drums and rendering you deaf. That was a better alternative then getting killed from the Banshee's screaming as you leapt back with your wings flared, rapier leaping to your hand.

Even deaf you could feel the Banshee's shriek as your skin tightened and your bones ached while numerous dead fish began to float up along the waves. Ignoring that you launched a curtain of fire at the Banshee as she pursued you. The fire turned into a burst of steam as it struck her, the ocean water colliding against the Banshee in a freezing wave to soak through her bones and flesh to heal so you quickly switched from pyromancy to brontmancy. You'd forgotten Banshee's were water based demons, so obviously fire wouldn't do jack against one with such a high resistance.

Before you could launch a lightning strike the Banshee abruptly dropped down into the sea with barely a splash. You flapped your wings, small forks of lightning radiating up and down your rapier blade as you hovered in place. You couldn't sense the Banshee beneath the surf, the miasma from the cove mouth interfering with your aura reading abilities while your deafness meant you couldn't hear her. You also had to stick close to the cove since you knew it was getting dangerously close to sunrise but didn't want to risk being inside the cave with the Banshee in case she decided to drown you. You needed to kill her, and fast.

You dodged a tendril of water that lash up at your, several more following in pursuit. One sliced through the tips of the feathers along the arch of your left wing while another laid open the flesh of your cheekbone. You ignored that, instead focusing on the churning dark water of the ocean and then channelled lightning through your blade in a shocking lance that shot out to strike the shadowy form of the submerged Banshee.

With a scream she resurfaced, water exploding in all directions with droplets slicing through your wings like knives. You hardened the feathers while wrapping your wings around yourself in a dive so you could smash right into the Banshee before she could escape back into the sea again. Your rapier blade punctured through the sunken flesh of her shoulder as your clawed feet ripped open her abdomen. Still shrieking the Banshee seized your wrist, preventing you from forcing your blade further into her body while her hair snaked around your torso and neck. This close her screams were warping the air and you could _feel_ it pressing against your skin even if you were still deaf- otherwise you'd either be dead or seizing. 

Her hair cut through your skin, the waterlogged strands as sharp as razor wire as the Banshee's mouth gaped open like an eel as if to swallow you whole. Ignoring the pain you manifested the sai in your other hand and plunged it right into her neck, the pointed blade sinking through her skin and spraying freezing black blood across your face. Her talons ripped into your sides but you ignored it- the same way you ignored the needle sharp teeth which sank into your neck to instead stab the Banshee over and over again with the sai, lightning forking through the blade to zap through her body and locking her in place as she attempted to phase out of your grip. 

Your wrist snapped from the pressure as scraggy hair tightened around the bone to breaking point but you just twisted your head around to bite the Banshee's face while she mauled your neck. Your blood soaked your shirt even as you forced it to boiling point, searing the flesh around the Banshee's mouth and chin. Your own fangs sank through her hair and you ignored how the sharp strands tore at the roof of your mouth as you clamped down hard with your hooked fangs. Feathers and scales sprouted along your face while your eyes flared white with the power of your devil soul before a loud _crunch_ rang through the air as you crushed her skull between your fangs like an overly ripe berry.

The death scream of the Banshee caused the dead fish surrounding you to rot instantly while hoarfrost froze your arms and skin. Then she burst into sea foam, willowy form collapsing to slowly ebb away into nothing among the surf while you promptly fell down onto one of the rocks before the cove mouth, feeling your body absorb the demon's crystallized tears and fluids.

For a long moment you just lay there, feeling your aura dance across your skin as you healed the frostbitten skin while you finally permitted your eardrums to fix themselves. With stiff movements you reached out to scoop up a handful of the sea water and splashed it across your face, washing off the blood which had spilled from the corner of your eyes and nose from the Banshee's death shriek. You also noticed in your choppy reflection upon the surf at how your hair was now threaded through with streaks of white- side affects of being so close to a Banshee's death. However since you weren't human it should grow out eventually. Probably. 

Then you pushed yourself up, sea salt spraying across your skin as you vanished away both your weapons. Carefully you flexed your wings before gliding into the cove's mouth just before the sun could crest over the horizon. As you crossed the threshold you felt a shiver run down your back, white feathers fluffing up as the strange miasma of the place settled along your flesh like a mist.

The narrow passage of the cave had obviously been touched by civilization- the dark stone had been worn down into steps and you followed the stairs down pass ocean level and further into the rock. It smoothed out nearly fifty yards down and you passed several large round doors in the side of the cave made from a dark oak that shined with polish. When you pushed one opened it just revealed an large empty storage space. _Interesting._

The frame of the doors had also been carved to resemble long, smooth tentacles that were wet with traces of sea water. The smell of salt was thick in your nose as you carried on down the pathway.

You didn't fear the darkness, your devil eyes easily able to see in the dark but despite that you could see movement at the corner of your eyes but whenever you turned to look there was nothing. Despite that, and the increasing feeling of being watched, you still didn't sense hostility. Whatever was potentially guarding the Necronomicon didn't seem too bothered by your presence but you knew you were only at the threshold of the location of the book. Though just from the sheer presence of the miasma you could understand why it wasn't lodged full of demons- if you hadn't been assigned the mission and knew what the cave held, you most likely would've avoided the place as well.

Then the passage abruptly dropped down into a yawning pit of darkness, numerous stalactites pointing down from the ceiling towards the depth like fangs. A long rusted walkway was barely clinging to the wall, the steel flooring bent and the railing half rotted away. The deep pressure of the foreign energy grew thicker as you stopped at the lip of the pit, peering downwards but unable to see the bottom. Ah well. You still had a mission to do and it wasn't like you didn't have wings.

Carefully you jumped forward, flaring out your wings and slowly floating down. You kept your claws handy, eyes flickering through the dark in case something decided to suddenly manifest and pounce at you. However you were able to reach the bottom of the pit unmolested, the stone now smooth and flat. Despite that you could see something moving deep within the dark stone like the veins of the earth would be threaded through marble. The only deviance with the completely flat and square floor was the pile of rubble heaped on the floor with the remains of a skeletal arm sticking out from underneath the broken rocks.

You ignored that, instead walking down the lone passageway further into the cavern. Much like the ground you could see something shifting beneath the stone but there was still no sign of hostility. You shook your head, the strange oppressive presence of the cave enveloping your senses. It was akin to when you swam down with the whales, at how the water pressed harder and harder upon you the deeper you dived. Golden scales crept along your fingers to inch their way up your arms as you reached the end of the passage where a single great black door stood.

The door resembled the others above with the storage space, but in addition to the tentacles crafted into the frame there was a ring of angular eyes. They were shut as if carved but when you reached out to press a palm against the cool dark wood of the door they all opened to reveal a glittering iris with slit pupils that fixed their gaze upon you. The surrounding dark stone had also gained an odd shimmer, as if it was more like volcanic shale than the dense rock that made up the cavern of above. The odd twisting within the rocks was more prominent here as well, as if there was water flowing within it. You pushed that from your mind as you pressed your aura right up against the doorway, feeling the dense network of charm locked upon it.

There was wards woven throughout the door so after some studying you settled down upon the wet stone and went to work, carefully deactivating each sigil holding the door shut. While you worked the miasma of the place continued to press and flow against you, your aura sensitivity making you bristle slightly at the ominous presence even if it wasn't actively hostile. At the very least getting through the wards took time but not a lot of energy- it was more like carefully picking free a thread and unravelling it, so while it took a great deal of precision it didn't require a lot of strength. That also meant you could fully heal from the brief fight outside, along with recuperate your power. After all you weren't sure what type of things would be inside the chamber where the book was. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility there would be defences in place or some type of gauntlet. It's what you would do.

In all it took you over an hour to bypass the wards and many were delicate enough you nearly fumbled, even with your exemplary aura sensitivity. You could understand why a lot of people failed to breech the door since there were so many tiny deviations or barely manifested threads to tug free. Demons weren't exactly known for their subtlety, after all. Most would probably just opt for trying to punch the door down.

When you finally pulled the final ward free the dark surface of the door warped to reveal a wet maw filled with oddly human teeth. You could read the runes that formed along the lips of the mouth, which was fairly politely asking you to donate a pound of flesh to pass.

Well you _had_ expected there to be a blood price somewhere. With a sigh you rolled up the sleeves of your hoodie up to your elbow, mentally bracing yourself as you focused on slowing down the blood flow through the limb while untying the Frost Heart from your wrist and tucking it away. While you'd recuperated from the fight outside, regrowing a limb was always a nuance and you didn't want to exhaust yourself. Carefully you stuck your hand into the mouth and barely twitched when the teeth snapped shut and bit your arm off midway to your elbow. You wrapped your remaining hand on the skin just above the missing flesh, keeping your breathing calm and even as you prevented your blood from spraying across the stone via circulating it back through your arm up towards your shoulder. Even so several droplets splattered onto the dark stone beneath your feet, the noise echoing through the long passageway.

The mouth chewed away on your arm with the blunt teeth bloodied as it snapped the bones before it swallowed, burped, then vanished back into the wood. The eyes along the door frame blinked once and a part of you wanted to poke them to see if they actually were eyes or simply animated wood like the door.

You checked your arm, the stump swirling with white aura as your demonic nature healed the wounds. Mentally you searched the injury, at the split radius and ulna which you focused on to regrow the bone as muscles and tendons crawled along the shimmering white before being encased in skin. You tried not to interfere too much as doing so always exhausted you more so you forced your attention away from rebuilding the limb piece by piece to moreso just stopping the exposed flesh from bleeding out all over the floor as it healed. 

Carefully you pushed the sleeve of your hoodie up further, rolling it slightly so it wouldn't slide down to disturb the healing process as you stepped through the now opened black door. It was still a nuisance you couldn't summon clothes. Then you felt the hairs on the nape of your neck stand on end and you pivoted around sharply, peering down the dark passage and half expecting to see a demon skulking behind you. Instead it was just the pitch black and slick stone. The door had shut behind you though, with the shimmering eyes nearly closed as if the door was almost asleep. After some narrowed eyed glaring you continued further into the cave even as the bones of your missing hand shimmered into being before crimson muscle and tendons slithered across it.

The place didn't feel like a cave any more- the first passage before the pit did but only because you could still see the jagged edges of the rock but since that everything was far too smooth and intentional. You knew some rock formations grew in angles of repose but as you slid down a narrow hallway you spotted small tendrils of darkness crawling across the stone like mould. It was the same writhing black you'd seen above but now leaking out of the stone. It stuck against the leather soles of your boots and smelled oddly sweet.

You were also aware of the rhythmic rustle of air against your hair and clothes, as if something immense was breathing down your neck along with a low humming. After a few checks over your shoulder to reveal nothing but still air you just decided to ignore it the sensation. If you ended up attacked, well you'd deal with that when it happened.

There were more and more skeletons appearing, fused into the rock or strangled by the thick mould until you were walking on more bone than stone. Some of the bones were broken or shattered into pieces but still clearly all human while the tentacles that had begun seeping through the stone had a strange viscous look to them, as if they were filled with a dense fluid rather than muscle or blood. That wasn't outside the realm of possibility considering the magical nature of demons as some didn't even _have_ bodies. Still, you made sure to avoid touching the tendrils clinging to the wall and the odd black webbing that smelled like blood and smoke along with the weird translucent rock.

Still no sign of a fellow demon in the dark so you were alone besides the odd breathing behind you. Or you could be experiencing hallucinations due to being so close to the source of the miasma- many demons had such abilities, like Succubi, Aka Manah or Dream Weavers so it was possibly simply being within the realm of influence of the book was causing you to see things. Either so you chose to ignore most it since the being, or whatever it was, didn't seem overly hostile towards you. It was likely your hybrid nature was making you vulnerable to influence, since most demons were designed to prey upon humans.

Then you came to the end of the passage where the exit was covered in a heavy mesh of tentacles that formed a writhing gate. Through the sliver of space between the tendrils a soft pale light seeped through. The air was moist with droplets of water sliding down the walls and from the ceiling. You had to wonder if you'd somehow walked underneath a lake but ignored that to instead push out your aura to brush against the tentacles. They reminded you of the more inert trees in Hell- alive but not possessing any real intelligence or motivation. Just stupid and hungry. 

Frowning you eyed the moving barrier contemplatively for a few seconds before raising your now fully healed hand and summoned fire. Your pupils contracted to the size of pinheads in the sudden light before you pulled back your hand and hurled the fireball against the tentacles.

They didn't like that.

You dodged a tentacle that lashed out at your face, sweeping past your head with enough force it nearly knocked you backwards. You pushed your hand towards the squirming tendrils, a jet of fire blasting from your palm like a flamethrower. Baring your teeth you ducked as more of the tentacles unravelled from the doorway to lash at you like hungry serpents. 

When one did whack you in the side it briefly lit up with a bright green glow and you felt the nerves in your body light up, making you clench your teeth against a surprised shriek of agony. So they caused immense pain by simple touch, good to know.

The narrow passage made it difficult to avoid them tentacles but at the very least the only ones that were active were the ones barring the way. You threw a handful of fire at one trying to seize your ankle before quickly slapping several aura-infused seals on the walls, floor and ceiling before nimbly back flipping out of the way.

The resulting explosion of fire lit up the entire passageway and, for a brief moment, illuminated an immense creature's silhouette lurking deep within the stone to your right like some beast within the depths of an ocean instead of rock. You didn't let the sight distract you overly, skidding backwards as the smoke and flickering flames died away to reveal scorched stone and a now vacant doorway. 

Tentatively you lowered your hands, seals of fire briefly flaring on your palms before you willed them away to nothing. The mould was still thick on the walls but the tentacles had seemingly been chased away to the rock by your fire so you felt ready enough to inch to the threshold of the doorway and peer inside.

The room was an immense cavern and, much like the other formation, having very pronounced angles and edges. Thick crystals jutted from the ceiling and walls, pale pinks and blues that shone softly with their lights refracting off the deep clear water filling the rest of the cave.

_There._

You jumped, whipping around at the foreign voice whispering in your ear that seemed to reverberate within your bones and made your vision shutter.

It was the dark shape you'd briefly seen in the corridor, vast enough to rival Lord Mundus in size. It was big enough that even with your sharp eyesight and the light from the crystals you struggled to see its form clearly within the shimmering stone.

The devil was heavy bodied with thick limbs the size of tree trunks, with large fan-like ears with thick webbed membranes like a fish. It seemed to be lounging within the stone comprising of the cave you were in, one heavily muscled arm stretched across the ceiling and cheek pressed against the wall as if the cave was a fish bowl the giant demon was absent-mindedly looking into. Huge curled tusks flanked its trunk, the tusks having long barbs and spikes like the thorned stem of a rose. Even as you watched the trunk shifted up and you could see that, instead of nostrils, the nose of the trunk was filled with a thick mess of fangs the same length as your arm while the teeth of its main mouth were oddly flat and blunt like a humans.

Even as you stared the great eye slid open with several smaller eyes opening up as well upon the surrounding dense leathery skin like pebbled scales as the giant demon focused its gaze upon you and you tensed, quickly dropping your gaze in case it took offence or tried to bewitch you.

There was the brief urge to bristle before quickly remembering your manners- thus far the miasma wasn't hostile and the tentacles had only reacted to your attack, and those hadn't been part of the beast now watching you. So it would be better if you decided to be polite rather than argumentative in hopes you could defuse the situation before it turned sour.

With that in mind you placed a hand on your chest and curtseyed to the foreign demon in a graceful movement, saying politely yet loudly, "Well met Lord Chaugnar Faugn."

It rankled a bit to acknowledge the other demon as such but if there was something all ancient demons were susceptible to it was flattery. Also you'd probably be lucky to even _scratch_ the immense devil in a fight and you had a mission for a book, not to die trying to fight a foreign demon lord.

For a long moment Chaugnar Faugn just stared at you through the unnaturally transparent stone, its star shaped pupils swirling within a glittering iris which was the same colour as the eyes upon the black door. Then the demon laughed, mouth opening beneath its trunk even as the fang-filled maw at the ends of its trunk laughing as well. You didn't even hear the noise, instead the entire cavern shook and swayed as if an earthquake was rattling it and you grabbed onto the edge of the doorway to avoid toppling down into the water. 

Eventually the ancient demon's mirth eased and it settled back against the stone, luminous eyes sliding shut as it decided to ignore your presence to return to its nap. Well. At least being polite seemed to work. That, or Chaugnar Faugn wasn't hungry.

You could also speculate that Chaugnar Faugn was a guardian to the Necronomicon but if that was the case it should've tested you or rebuked your presence- potentially Chaugnar Faugn didn't even care about the book and was simply the source of the temporal displacement around said book, rather than the Necronomicon itself. Maybe it just fell asleep in the location and its very presence caused the Necronomicon to manifest? You were unsure but wasn't going to push it via questioning Chaugnar Faugn. Hopefully the immense demon wouldn't react to you taking the book considering it didn't seem to care about you wandering right in.

Casting the dozing demon a wary look you leapt off from the threshold, wings sweeping through the air silently as you hovered above the water while absent-mindedly tying the Frost Heart back around your wrist as you peered around the cavern. There was no exit on the other side of the cave and the ceiling was low enough you could easily see the top. You even flew around to touch one of the shimmering crystals and, after some studying, you snapped off one of the smaller ones and was pleasantly surprised when you were able to put it in your internal inventory. At least that proved the crystals were magic so you ended up taking several more. Throughout Chaugnar Faugn didn't move or react even if you kept giving the giant demon tentative glances.

That done you turned your attention to the water, your eyes shimmering white as your focused your aura to peer down into the depths. To your surprise you could see what looked like a library below, with the rows of bookshelves, desks and chairs. Even more interesting you could see lit candles all over the place, the spots of light warping through the water. 

Cocking your head to the side you swept your wings down once, twice, before tipping forward in a dive and plummeting down into the lake. The water was horrendously cold, feeling as if icicles were stabbing through your body but you just kept a fairly basic warming charm heating yourself as you swam down and down. Across in the stone you could see Chaugnar Faugn shift its trunk to drape it across one its tusks, before focusing your attention back on diving down to the library.

Though you were caught off guard when you breached the water and realized the lake was actually suspended above the library- when you reached the bottom of the water you were actually several feet above the closest book shelf. Instead it was if the water was a suspended barrier of some sorts or maybe whoever made the library liked having a lake for a ceiling. Either was it was a bit disorientating to tread water while upside down with your head breeching the surface. Or bottom? You weren't sure.

It took some flailing to pull yourself free of the water and you fell down to the floor, quickly rotating mid-air to land on your feet between two of the towering shelves. Above you the water rippled for a few moments before going back to its calm state. You straightened up, keeping the heat spell activated to dry your clothing as you started to wander about the library.

To your surprise the shelves were completely devoid of books, instead it was just rows of empty shelves of a deep polished wood. Even as you walked around there were no books, despite the fact there was numerous chairs and tables set up with enough candles it'd give Syracuse a fit. The candles gave off a sweet vanilla scent that made your nostrils tingle, mingling with the smell of oak and something else that reminded you of that bacon you'd eaten earlier. It was a strange combination.

As was the fact there was no dust or wear and tear to speak of- even the empty shelves were glossy while the only real mess was the threads of wax dripping from from the tables or small coves on the stone walls. However when you carefully poked your finger into the flame of the nearest candle your skin became hot but didn't burn. A type of magic obviously but then again the entire cave system was strange. You just needed to get the Necronomicon and, while hoping Chaugnar Faugn wouldn't get pissed off in the process, leave the eerie place.

You did get turned around several times while prowling through the shelves, turning around a corner only to find yourself back in a place you'd just walked through or blinking and ending up sitting in one of the chairs without remembering it. Though that was more annoying than anything and somewhat bothered you that your senses were being messed with so much but eventually you managed to stumble out of the maze of shelves to find rows of empty chairs set up before a speakers rise. Said rise was completely strangled in mould and tentacles with numerous human skeletons tangled within as if they'd been smothered. You tried to ignore the eyes staring at you from the dark sockets of the skulls.

But what really caught your attention was the podium rising among the writhing mess, made of bone and seeping red as if it were bleeding, with a large book resting upon it.

 _Finally,_ you let out a relieved exhale as you carefully crept out from among the empty shelves and towards the podium. There were several shimmering shades sitting among the chairs set up but the warping dark forms offered you no violence as you walked up the aisle and a part of you just wanted to sprint up, seize the book and then run as fast as you could out of this weird warping place. Even Chaugnar Faugn's immense form seem to fade away as you stopped just before the rise, the toes of your boots nearly touching the mould clinging to the rise.

The Necronomicon was lying on a plinth, looking fairly inconspicuous. However when you carefully climbed the rise you noticed the texture of the book's cover, of the leathery material and stretched human face pulled taunt across the surface. So it really _was_ made of genuine human hide. You giggled to yourself, thinking of that webpage with that grandmother seamstress, before eyeing the Necronomicon intently as you pressed out your aura. There was a ridiculous amount of warding around the thing- more specifically anchored down by a curse which would probably take you months to pick free. Luckily for you Syracuse had already procured the necessary words to deactivate the ward so you could take the book without harm and without wasting so much time. You did have a feeling if you mucked it up the skeletons and tentacles would turn hostile, even if currently they were just lying about.

Pushing that thought away you used a single talon to slash open the skin of your palm, red welling forth as you kept the wound open as you reached out to the podium.

Pressing your bleeding palm against the humming sigil just below the book you clearly said, "Klaatu Barada Ni-" You then sneezed on the last word, making sure to not actually disturb the Necronomicon as you pulled your hand away.

Cursing you stepped away, glaring down at the cut on your hand before you carefully licked it clean. After a few seconds the slit healed shut into smooth skin.

In all honesty it was an act; you were waiting for the pale hybrid to take advantage of your inattention and try stabbing you in the back. You weren't fool enough to say the last word within ear shot.

 _How_ the other hybrid had managed to sneak in without you noticing the water above being disturbed confused you for a moment before you remembered the odd teleportation ability. Awfully convenient and awfully annoying though you'd tasted his blood so your devil was keyed into him the moment he crept too close. Either way you knew you'd have to deal with the stranger before getting the Necronomicon and you suddenly felt immensely angry that you were going to be waylaid. You hated this cave now and its creepy mould and creepy giant demon and creepy shelves.

Though that could just be your demonic fury pressing hard against the spongy tissue of your brain, making your vision creep red while your clenched teeth sharpened into fangs. You were too annoyed to bother with being sneaky as well so instead you just whirled around, the Electro Heart tied around your wrist flaring as you hurled a lance of lightning at him like a javelin.

He was fast, a lot faster than you anticipated and dodged the blazing spear of energy quickly enough it didn't even singe his coattails. He was also quick enough to block your attempted stabbing of him with your rapier, you having launched yourself right after the lightning to impact against him hard enough he banged into the end of the shelves. The point of your rapier rang out shrilly as it impacted the side of his katana's blade as you clenched both hands around the bone-white hilt.

This close you could see how his pupils contracted slightly, irises such a cold shade of blue they were almost grey, before he bared his teeth at you and snarled. You hissed back, leaning forward over your locked swords in an attempt to sink your fangs into his face but he kicked you in the gut with enough force you went skidding back.

You regained your footing, glaring as the strange hybrid as you channelled lightning through the blade of your sword with similar forks flickering through your plumage. You were wary of fighting so close to the Necronomicon, not wanting to disturb the book. It was fortunate your leap had been strong enough to carry you across the chairs to the start of the shelves where there was a small open space but you noticed from the corner of your eyes the odd shades had vanished from the chairs.

At this point you just wanted him dead- you could drag his corpse out with the Necronomicon to dissect later. Or would his body collapse like a normal demons? Whatever, you'd find out when you killed him.

You shoved that to the back of your mind as your hand lit up with fire sigils, using the same flamethrower technique you applied earlier. He dodged, quickly enough he left an after-image of himself and you found yourself catching the blade of katana on the cross-guard of your sword while you stopped the spell to grab the blade with a scaled hand. The tip of it sank into your side, slicing into your diaphragm but couldn't reach your heart or lungs with the other hybrid being smart enough to keep out of range of your teeth. A hideous screeching noise ripped through the air as you pushed your rapier cross-guard along the the sword's blade until it was pressed against the katana's hand guard, your wrist aching at the awkward angle. The hand gripping the blade was bleeding, blood seeping through the golden scales as you felt the low pulse of a dark forged blade.

Exhaling lowly you increased the pressure on the sword blade, a bit annoyed you couldn't get your teeth into it at this angle. The other hybrid leaned forward, putting more of his weight on his sword in an effort to jam it further into your organs. His snow white hair was falling over his face; he was just as gaunt featured and pale as when you'd fought him in the museum. 

For a few seconds you just strained against one another, too closely matched in strength to get leverage over the other. Baring your fangs you deliberately slid your left hand further along the katana's blade, cutting your palm open even deeper. Then you forced your aura through the wound and animated your blood clinging to the sword and it slithered along the katana before shooting past the hand guard to puncture into his wrist like needles. Then you froze it, the hoarfrost exploding in small crystallized bursts and ripping open his skin.

He immediately disengaged, dodging back as he slashed at you as you stumbled forward from the sudden break in pressure. The sword moving so quickly it was a blur, and the sharp edge cut off all the fingers of your injured hand. You could wield your rapier one handed so instead you just punched him in the face with your crippled limb and splattered blood all over his face. He snarled and you hissed back and then you were both in a full on sword fight with each other.

To your immense frustration he was _good_ , good enough you couldn't kill him quickly and his sword was a pain in the ass since it had a longer range than your rapier. It also left a odd warping in the air but even after being stabbed you weren't cursed or poisoned so you had no idea what it meant. Though he'd gotten you in the side and one of your hands was mutilated you'd endured far worse under your keeper's tutelage. You used the wound of your hand as an impromptu weapon, flicking your bloody droplets forced to boiling point at him which would eat through his clothes or skin like acid. He would barely flinch but you pressed whatever advantage you got.

While you traded blows with each other the shelf of the library was now fully ignited, you having set it alight by accident with your flame attack earlier and it was starting to spread to the other shelves. The floor and walls were stone so you weren't overly bothered about the rest of the room catching fire. The sharp ringing of your swords colliding with each other pained your ears even as your fingers regrew. Quickly you inscribed several seals of frost along your arm before quickly leaping back and slamming your fist on the ground. 

The ice shot towards him like a serpent, managing to seizing his foot and lunch up half to his shin before he could move out of the way. He stumbled, faltering as the frost was strong enough he couldn't yank himself free easily. You readjusted your grip on your rapier, forearms scaled and feathers sprouting across your face, before channelling blood through the crystal to sweep a curtain of blazing blood at him.

He managed to shatter the ice with a fist and hurled himself to the side to avoid the brunt of it, but the flaming blood splashed across his side and shoulder to sent the reek of burnt flesh rising in the air. He snarled, eyes flashing a brilliant blue as he quickly shucked off his now flaming coat. You lunged forward, the blood whirling around your rapier blade now electrified to skewer him through the chest.

Instead you got a small, glittering blue sword right in the eye, the spectral projectile punching into the delicate membrane hard enough it made you stumble and miss your lunge. Your sword point struck the stone next to him and you both went crashing into the nearest set of chairs. 

The spectral sword embedded in your eye burst, making you snarl as your socket exploded as the hybrid took the opportunity to get some distanced between you both. You glared at him through your remaining eye, noting how he was now clad in a leathered vest which showcased the fresh burns on one arm, before you slowly, deliberately, raised your hand to your ruined eye and pulled the ruined organ out with a wet squelch. Then you flicked it at him with a sneer. His lips thinned into an unimpressed line, hands tightening around the hilt of his sword which was a gesture you mirrored before leaping forward to meet him.

It was more difficult though since you both kept stumbling or hitting the chairs, wood and splinters flying everywhere as you devoted half your attention to avoiding being skewered and avoiding tripping over a chair. Fed up, you ducked to the side to grab one of said chairs and use it as an impromptu weapon. You bashed him in the side of the head with it, leaving you with a splintered leg in your hand which you promptly tried to stab him with. You missed his heart and got his shoulder while your rapier sank into his abdomen, ignoring the katana slicing through your upper arm sharply enough it nearly severed the limb as you tried to sink your teeth into his throat. 

You missed, instead your fangs clamped down hard on his ear and you bit it off. Absent-mindedly you swallowed it before grabbing a fistful of his white hair even as you were fully blinded by another spectral sword going into your remaining eye. Ignoring that you slammed chest to chest against him, the hybrid skidding over on the frost still painting the floor to send you both crashing to the ground in a flurry of limbs.

There was a flash of inspiration in the darkness of your blindness, making you think of how deep and dark the ocean became as you swam next to the whale. To how you _felt_ the immense animal in a way you were incapable of doing to demons.

The hybrid wasn't the whale but he was partially of the Human World due to being a half-breed so at the end of that spontaneous thought your aura surged up across your skin and flooded through your arm to where your fingers were buried in his hair and knuckles tucked against his skull.

It was difficult, far more difficult than with the whale but not impossible like with a true demon- but then you could feel the bolts of energy flashing to and fro throughout his brain, the tautness of his muscular system, the way his lungs expanded with his gasp and how his sturdy heart beat with frantic movements. Then his devil soul roared to the surface, knocking your aura out of his system like a fever fighting off an infection and making you lurch backwards.

However you were so disorientated from the experience that you didn't have time to react before he stabbed you right in the gut, his katana puncturing through your flesh with sickening ease. Your eyes snapped open, belatedly aware you'd shifted into your fully demonic form, feathers ruffled and golden scales sparkling. With a screech you flung yourself backwards, the sword slipping free of your scales in a red spray as you buffeted the other hybrid backwards with your wings and sending several chairs clattering across the floor.

Blood stained the scales around the wound which was already beginning to heal as you faced off against him, your vision and sliced forearm having healed with your full transformation. Flaring out your wings to their full length you hissed at the other hybrid, hooked fangs flicking out as you snapped your sharp beak. Even as your tail whipped from side to side, the fan of feathers hardened to be as sharp as steel, you noticed with great interest he'd transformed into his demon form as well.

Instead of pale skin he was now covered in glittering scales of cerulean, the thicker ones across his chest and hips being edged in silver. Threads of red energy forked up his legs and along his undersides while blue flickered along the edges of his scales. His horns were thick and stout, well designed to protect his skull, and a odd silver colour that seemed to shift into soft golden hue as he titled his head back to glare at you while baring needle sharp teeth. His pupils and irises had fully disappeared, eyes now a solid glowing blue of his devil soul.

 _Pretty,_ you thought.

With a flourish the hybrid whirled his katana around in an elaborate twirl, your blood flicking from the sharp blade to splatter against the stone. You just scoffed; you still had some of his flesh in your teeth.

You were bigger than he was, in demon form. Head and shoulders above him in height but you weren't stupid enough to dismiss him as a threat because of such a superficial difference. Tightening your scaled talons around your rapier you leapt forward so quickly you were a blur and the tip of your sword struck the side of his blade with a crystalline chime, speed and strength augmented for you both in demon form.

He was less graceful in this form, almost as if he was unused to it and kept overreacting or his timing being thrown off- you briefly entertained the thought that perhaps it was the first time he'd shifted into his devil form but then dismissed such a thought as ridiculous. You were much younger the first time you shifted into your other self. You had the advantage of wings and a tail, with your sharpening feathers lashing across his scales or using your tail like a flail. Still, it was annoyingly hard to incapacitate him though you noticed he'd shifted to defensive while in devil form.

Then you got a firm grip around his ankle with your tail to yank a scaled leg out from under him and you pounced, dismissing your rapier as you sank the hooked talons of your feet into the ridged angles of his hips as you used your uneven weight to knock him to the ground. With a sharp movement you stabbed at his face with your beak, aiming for his unarmoured eyes but he jerked his head up at the last moment so instead your beak sank deep into the leathery skin of his throat. Your wings, feathers hardened to be as sharp as any blade, screeched against the stone as you used them as anchors to press yourself down further on the devil pinned under you.

You ignored the searing pain of the katana puncturing through your kidneys and stomach to burst out your back, clipping your spine. His other hand clamped hard onto your serpentine throat, crushing your windpipe. Instead you pressed your face further against his neck, trying to drive your beak enough through the thick muscle so you could get to his brainstem or spine. Your auras clashed against each other, the cold rage of the other demon stabbing at your mind and you could feel fire ignite along your wings in retaliation as you strained in his grip.

Blood oozed around your beak as you shifted, struggling to ignore the way your lungs were beginning to protest from the lack of air. You were both at a dangerous stalemate, him slowly suffocating you while you were inching close and close to his spinal cord. If you cut that you knew he'd be paralysed, completely vulnerable for you to do whatever you pleased. The feathers of your neck began to stain with blood as the hybrid's talons sank in deeper even as he twisted his katana's blade from where it was embedded within you. You're suffered worse. but you also knew being choked out would be detrimental to your retrieval of the book.

_Damnit._

Using your wings as leverage you reared backwards in an attempt to pull your beak free of his throat even as your vision began to spot. He fought you for several moments before realizing you were actually trying to disengage, talons digging into the flesh of your neck as you kicked him hard in the hips before he released you so you could stumbled off him.

When he'd pulled the katana free he'd done so at an angle so it left a heavy slice from your middle rip free of your side. Annoying you pressed a wing against the injury to keep your organs from spilling out, knowing the severed muscles would be an annoying in the continuing fight. You took advantage of his disorientation to pump healing into the injury, threading back tendons and blood vessels as quickly as you dared. Your feathers were stained in slowly fading blood, your beak coated in more of the crimson fluid. Your shimmering white eyes narrowed as the scaled hybrid got up to his feet, breath wheezing and wet as he inhaled through a punctured throat.

Then, to your surprise, he transformed back into his human form with a shower of shimmering blue motes and sparkles of demonic energy. He looked disorientated, pressing a hand against the pale column of his throat while his hair was in complete disarray with various blood splatters splayed across his body. The bright crimson was a quite fetching contrast to his icy colouration.

Carefully you straightened up, the flesh of your side steaming. You'd healed enough of the internal damage so you felt fine to let the rest of your wound heal without input even as you released your own demon form except for your wings, rapier reappearing in your bloodied hand. The Hearts tied around your throat and wrists glowed as your aura continued to shimmer and flow across your body, eyes still glinted with your devil soul. Around you most of the chairs were either destroyed or on fire- as was all the empty shelves -and you both were standing facing off against each other only a few feet from the podium with the Necronomicon.

You tilted up your chin, pulling back your lips to bare bloodied teeth even as the other hybrid bristled at your disdain. He gripped his katana, the blade giving a low hissing noise as he twisted it in the air in an elaborate flourish and making more of your blood to splatter free of the weapon. With a low growl you hunkered down slightly, tightening your grip on your rapier while sigils of glowing white energy lit up your other hand.

Obviously in sword play you were both too close to each other in combat but it seemed your spell weaving skills were far above him. Mentally you zipped from tactic to tactic even as the other hybrid slid his legs apart with his katana being pulled up to his shoulder as he two handed the weapon in preparation for another fight.

Then the Necronomicon slid off its pedestal, turning into a sad pile of ash the instant it struck the floor.

Both of you stared at the now useless pile of dust which, even as you watched, scattered across the stone to disappear down the cracks forever. An odd shudder went through the surrounding mass of mould and tentacles which began to retreat somewhat but you were too horrified to really notice.

"You- you," Furious, you couldn't even string a sentence together as all thoughts of continuing your fight fled your mind before turning to the stranger to finally spit out, " _You vandalizing shit!_ How dare you break another priceless artefact! Bastard!"

The hybrid looked just as taken aback by the Necronomicon's sudden, and quite frankly entirely undramatic, demise as you were but he reacted angrily to your cursing, "Don't you blame me! If you had simply stepped aside and died none of this would have happened."

"Oh, it's my fault?! You're the one who was trying to ambush me!" you pointed a finger at him in accusation, "You interrupted my claim of the book! You probably just wanted to destroy it anyway!"

He bared his teeth at you, "Your deception is as transparent as your allegiance, don't you presume to act as if you even wished to claim the book for yourself."

"Don't you visit my intentions," you snapped, "You have no idea why I wanted the book but its lore made it priceless, which your human-rotted brain clearly can't comprehend."

"So it is simply a coincidence in our last encounter? Don't act so naive, you must have been hunting me at the behest of your master like a good little dog," the boy glared at you.

You glared right back, "Why would I care about you? I have no idea who you are."

There was barely a change in the other hybrid's blood-splattered face but you could tell you'd caught him off guard. You had no idea why, since why would he even be important? He was just another half-breed and your keeper had pressed how incompetent and irrelevant you were as a being. Why would he be any different? And as for the 'master' comment, did he know Lord Mundus? Well obviously, as all should know the true King of both worlds but what would this strange hybrid be relevant to that? You didn't know but you were still furious over the stranger's stupidity making the Necronomicon be destroyed. 

Your verbal sparring was cut short as a rumble shook the ground, the rock walls splintering as the earth moved. The rest of the library continued to burn but you had to leap to the side as the plinth the Necronomicon had been resting on suddenly collapsed inward into a black hole. A high pitched screech cut through the air and the tentacles and mould got sucked into the vortex, a furious wind sweeping through the library. You skidded forward before quickly using your wings to propel yourself backwards, dismissing the other hybrid as irrelevant as the nearest infrastructure began to collapse into the black hole. The water above transformed into a twister, being sucked down as the whole floor began to concave.

It seems the destruction of the Necronomicon was causing the very cave to collapse. Perhaps because it had been destroyed or because you'd taken too long to deactivate the curse you were unsure, but you did feel certain that if you didn't move you'd be trapped in here forever.

Without a backwards glance at the other hybrid you took flight, shooting upwards through the now vacant space above to fly up to the crystal cave. Chaugnar Faugn's immense form was gone- you guessed that also explained the lack of the stifling miasma that had suffocated the place now. Ignoring it you flew over to the exit in the cave, quickly landing in the passage and sprinting through the door even as the crystals cracked and shattered as the shaking intensified. Ignoring the protesting muscles in your side you continued at a fast clip down the corridor, seeing the deep cracks beginning to race across the walls and how the ceiling seemed to groan and starting to collapse inwards.

The tentacles and mould was slithering back into the dark rock while the air began to thin and become dry. You did your best to ignore it, just running as swiftly as you could before the black door came into view and quickened your pace.

You'd barely crossed the threshold of the black door before it slammed shut behind you with so much force the displaced air sent you sprawling face first on the ground hard enough you were winded. You laid there stunned for several movements before carefully pushing yourself up to your feet, looking at the now blank wall where the door had been. _Crap._

Abruptly you felt a wave of grief and rage flood through your body- furious and upset that the Necronomicon had been destroyed because of that idiotic and disrespectful stranger. Bad enough he'd destroyed those artefacts at the Gaea, but the Necronomicon was a treasure trove of obscure knowledge and ancient seal work and now it was _gone._ You could only hope it had just collapsed due to you taking too long to bypass the ward and that, perhaps, it wasn't truly destroyed so it'd reappear in a century but you were still furious. 

As you began to walk sullenly out of the cave you had to wonder why the hybrid had thought you were targeting him. Hybrids were rare yes but they weren't exactly important or powerful demons. Most usually went insane or got eaten. Maybe he was just delusional or full of himself, that was also a possibility. A part of you spitefully hoped he'd died in the collapsed library but knew due to his teleportation ability that was highly unlikely.

When you got outside it was night time again and you squinted up at the clear sky littered with stars, standing on one of the rocks as roiling waves sent a salty spray against your face. You felt exhausted and displeased, having the very strong thought that Syracuse wasn't going to be so merciful with your failure this time around. While you were used to pain you didn't like the idea of disappointing or displeasing your handler, not when your keeper had sacrificed so much to train you. Not when Lord Mundus himself had permitted you to live. Now you couldn't even retrieve a book without ruining it somehow.

Swallowing that down you flared open your wings and took to the sky, spiralling up high on the cool currents before angling yourself back towards Limbo City and ready to face your punishment.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Local teen hoodlums brawl in library, more at six.
> 
> Any of y'all play Moons of Madness or Subnautica? Or any game where you see some giant horrible _thing_ in the distance and its like OH SHIT lmao. Okay I love horror games if you haven't noticed also I find cave systems so horribly scary, like I remember going on a field trip at school to a cave ages back and it was horrible. I've seen too many movies like The Descent that just freak me out. Watch The Descent if you haven't. Because caves are horrible. 
> 
> Oh and the devil form Vergil took was akin to his DMC [3](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/devilmaycry/images/4/4a/VDT_Yamato.gif/revision/latest?cb=20080329152822)/[4](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/devilmaycry/images/b/bf/Yamato_%28V-DT%29_DMC4SE.png/revision/latest?cb=20190207025214) versions. And maybe it's the kiwi in me but his scale colouration in that form just reminds me of [paua](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fly-style-jewelry.com%2Fimages%2Fprodukte%2Fi60%2F6026-paua-abalone-shell-1.jpg&f=1&nofb=1) lol


	12. Plotting & Plans & Healing Hands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really don't understand how so many ppl in the DMC verse don't believe in demons like...guys, they nearly killed humanity 2k years ago and regularly show up to terrorize and eat people. They're not like Bigfoot or Mermaids since demons straight up maul people in broad daylight in the middle of cities to the point 'Demon Hunter' is an actual career path. But yeah that's a piece of world building in canon I just don't get 
> 
> But anyway, Merry Christmas!

* * *

You got punished.

Of course you did; this failure was a great deal more momentous than the Gaea as the Necronomicon was a far more valuable resource and you'd blotched it. Syracuse had stared at you coldly when you miserably reported back to her after returning to Limbo City, the crimson tints to her eyes flaring. Even with her aura so tightly contained you could feel the rage which caused cold sweat to break out along your nape.

"Clearly I thought too much of you," she stated icily when you finished.

You swallowed, keeping your eyes focused on the wall rather than the obvious disappointment and anger of the Angelo. You couldn't even defend yourself because there was nothing to defend. You'd just failed miserably.

"Too much for you to simply retrieve a book and then you failed to subdue the Son of Sparda. Perhaps that second failure could be overlooked considering the mongrel's cowardly nature but combined? No. Your past failure was excused and clearly you saw that as approval to continue on as such. Your human tainted blood has failed you yet again."

Your gaze darted to Syracuse, "Son of Sparda?"

Her expression shifted to disdain, skin twisting grotesquely to show her lurking demonic aspect, "Yes, the whore's son you encountered- Vergil Sparda, eldest son of that filthy traitor. Or were you too stupid to realize? And too stupid to recognize Yamato? Bah."

Quickly you averted your eyes again, staring down at your trembling hands which were clenched tight on your lap. She was completely right and with the Angelo saying so plainly you had no idea how you hadn't recognized the other hybrid. Perhaps his physical appearance could be excused- you'd heard stories of Sparda, seen his likeness both in Hell and on Fortuna so the gaunt pale hybrid didn't compare -but to completely miss at recognizing the katana for the _Yamato_ was an utter failure on your part. And the worst part was that you _knew_ there'd been something odd about the katana but you just dismissed it as being another Devil Arm. 

Syracuse was right, you _were_ stupid. You would be lucky if the Angelo didn't decide to just kill you right now for your colossal failure.

Her skin cracked, the glamour struggling to hold up with Syracuse's barely contained anger before it collapsed completely. Her demonic self fully revealed Syracuse leaned back in her chair, hooked claws gouging the wood as her wings contorted around the shape. You did wonder if it was painful, being forced into a humanoid shape when she couldn't do so naturally.

Then she got to her feet, whip-like tail curling around a narrow ankle as she titled her horned head to the side, "You survived suffering, survived lacking everything or anything. That part of your upbringing has not been neglected at least but it still seems you still don't understand the gift that you've been given. Come along now."

_You must accept it, to eagerly endure agony for our master._

You wondered if your keeper and Syracuse would have gotten along. At the very least their goals and methods of teaching aligned with the Angelo's threat so you followed her without protest despite knowing what lay ahead of you. Syracuse led you to another room down a set of corridors, to a door thick and steel like a vault's. Inside it was bright and smelling of blood and saline. The walls, floor and ceiling were lined with white tiles though you could see long faded stains splattered around the area. There were numerous steel tables and instruments though the main focus was the immense hoist in the centre, to which a skeletal frame was hanging from. You didn't miss the straps for restraining someone. 

Obediently you held still as Syracuse roughly stripped you, ripping the clothes right off your back with harsh talons sinking into your skin. You didn't complain or protest, just kicking off your boots and banishing the Hearts back into your internal inventory when she was done. Then the Angelo roughly grabbed your jaw, dragging you to the frame before shoving you face down in it with your forehead smacking against a strip of metal. Then she pulled up your arms and bound your wrists before hammering in the bolts of cold iron into the bones. Your devil bristled at the pain as the delicate bones in your hands were splintered but you forced down the pain and rising urge to attack Syracuse. Instead you kept your breathing to remain calm and even, letting her fix the bolt in place before she did the same for your opposite hand. Then she nailed your ankles to the frame as well, leaving you suspended several feet above the floor. 

Blood welled around the thick spikes of cold iron, moving in thin crimson rivulets to splatter on the floor below before disappearing into the drain below you. Still you said nothing and did nothing.

You could hear Syracuse moving around off to the side, the soft click of metal bumping against each other as you stared down at the ground. There was a brief smell of gas as she lit the small furnace built into the wall before you felt the Angelo's fingers grab a hold of your hair. You could see her scaled feet as she began to cut your hair roughly with a pair of scissors.

Occasionally the sharp scissors would nip your scalp, droplets welling from the skin before just as quickly healing. The smell of burnt hair suffused the air as she tossed off the cut locks into the furnace until she was finished. She put the scissors aside before patting your head, her hooked talons catching onto the lingering patches of fuzz.

Well, at least Lilith couldn't complain about your hair any more. A part of you was annoyed since you wouldn't be able to use it to augment your seals but knew far better than to complain.

Off to the side Syracuse hung up the scissors before taking a hold of a long skinning knife. She eyed the shimmering blade for a long moment before stepping back to your suspended form and touching your nape, long fingers digging in flesh before she said, "You must bear the weight of your failure through a lack of skin to comfort yourself with to be a reminder to better yourself in the future. Pain is your teacher, agony your mentor. To help remind you of your place and the consequences you may suffer. Now that you will suffer for it."

Yes, she and your keeper would _definitely_ have gotten along.

She then spent the next hour methodically flaying you, the sharp knife slicing through your skin easily in neat cuts before the Angelo would peel off the portion of flesh. When that was done she'd toss the skin into the small furnace before slathering your twitching, exposed nerves with demonic poison to prevent your natural healing from taking affect to fix the wound. The poison fused with the agonizing sting of your peeled skin until your vision spotted, though you absent-mindedly thought that the poison was from a Rakshasa. Certainly burned like it.

 _Would explain the strength,_ you thought drowsily, eyes sliding to half mast as Syracuse finished on your back and moved to your arms. Despite it, you could already theorize how to neutralize the poison but didn't. It was your punishment and you'd accept it without complaint. Instead your mind huddled deep inside yourself, even if your breathing became laboured and fingers spasmed as the Angelo slowly peeled the skin from your arms right up to your impaled wrists.

You'd done constitution training with your keeper over the years, the cloaked demon advancing the levels with your ageing until your pain resistance was immense. Unlike many demons you never found pain arousing or euphoric, it was just pain to you and after so many years you'd grown an immense resistance towards it. So even getting a limb severed in a fight or flesh melted right off your bones it wouldn't overly distract you, you'd been taught how to quickly adapt to such injuries. You'd learned to tolerate pain. Your keeper had made sure of that.

You focused on those memories than the searing pain radiating through your exposed muscles and nerves, remembering the numerous tasks your keeper had given you. One they'd chained you to the wall with orders to escape without the use of magic. The chains had been too powerful for you to tear from the wall or to rip apart due to being caked in suppression sigils so after some struggling you'd torn off both hands to escape. The next time your keeper had bound you with an arm brace bolted straight to the wall so you couldn't even tug the limb.

So instead you resorted to gnawing off your arm at the elbow like a captive Msira. At the very least your high control over your self healing came in handy since as by the time you finished gnawing the damage probably would've healed since you'd had to use your human teeth to rip through your limb. 

There was also sensory deprivation along with elemental exposure, burns and frostbite, suffocation and starvation. There was even a time when your keeper turned one of the side halls into a poison-filled swamp and threw you inside for a week. You'd rapidly gotten infected from the toxic mud through your bare feet and through the spores gathered within your lungs so you'd used the first day perched on one of the small isles among the slog figuring out how to create antibodies while keeping your heart from stopping. You had deduced the pus-filled mushrooms growing from the thorn-covered flowers could nullify that particular toxin and you'd spent the rest of the week surviving on the reeds or pus until your keeper released you.

Your keeper was a very firm believer you learned better if the pain of failure was close at hand. That you needed a hands on approach, as in your keeper's opinion your humanity's inherent stupidity and ignorance could interfere with teachings if you weren't exposed to the constant threat of pain. 'Trial by fire' as some may call it and you had certainly grown up understanding the threat of fire. Just as likely to burn as it was to warm, something your keeper made sure to press about the double-edged sword of the magical arts of Hell.

It was akin to when you'd learned about the acid arts and ended up accidentality melting all the skin from your arm and the majority of your muscles the first time you attempted to ascribe the sigils on your hand. After which you'd gotten a stern lesson from your keeper about the perils of using new or unknown spells and abilities and how to always start off with small, contained spell work in case the results were unpredictable.

 _"Using a spell not of your own making carries its own perils," your keeper had said, "For you never know if the original creator or author is actually lying about their methods or results. It is not unheard of for errant spells lying around being performed only to kill the user but are hidden as healing spells and such. Your strong abilities of spell weaving will help you in detecting these anomalies as creating a spell always starts with an impression of the end result if you are sensitive enough with magic."_ "

You kept those memories at the forefront of your mind as Syracuse pulled the skin free of your arm, the flesh bunched up like a horrible glove before she threw it in the furnace. Then she switched to your other arm, your breath hitching as she began to cut along the skin. You quickly burrowed back into your memories, eyes closing as your irises flared while your exposed muscles seared with pain.

Poison and acid were different- poison was a chemical substance which interfered directly with the internal biology of living creatures. In many cases poison was used to shut down organs while keeping them intact to preserve the potential prey depending on the toxicity, a subtle manipulation whereas acid was a direct attack designed to destroy organs material through direct contact compared with poison which was more subtle. Acid was typically corrosive and toxic, to outright melt and destroy. Poison was either chronic or acute. Chronic was from long term exposure and you knew humans were far more susceptible to this method- demons, due to their far hardier constitution and healing would usually form their own antibodies to combat it through long term slow exposure. For demons you would pick acute, which was a method many devils themselves employed in fights. It was fairly hard to come up with a cure to sudden foreign poison during a brawl.

You focused on your old lessons as Syracuse finished with your other arm, her nails briefly digging into your exposed brachioradialis muscle, rather than the burning agony now radiating through your skinned back and arms but Syracuse wasn't finished yet. 

Mentally you shuffled through the lessons over the years you'd been given and even then your foray into the Underworld that exposed you to wild toxins even as the knife slid back into your skin. Many poisons would adapt and grow due to the ever shifting nature of Hell and you wondered if perhaps you should start carrying around vials of the toxins like how that witch had carried those flasks to attack you with. It would be fairly handy especially since your failed encounter with that other hybrid. You could've paralysed him and then dragged him back to Devil's Dalliance by his hair to get flayed in your place. 

Though if you wanted to do that you'd have to devote some time to hunting down various toxins, which would no doubt be far harder in the Human World. Humans didn't produce natural poisons and those creatures that were poisonous in this world didn't have any real risk to you so they would hardly be helpful.

It was easier to ignore the pain as you mentally shuffled through your lessons. The burning sting of your exposed nerves and muscles was intense enough you had to grit your teeth or your breath would start hitching until you went over a sentence several times to regain your composure. You wouldn't scream.

By the time you'd mentally gone through the list of all known toxins you'd been nearly fully flayed; only your hands, feet and head still retained their skin. The rest of you was just raw redness with blood still steadily dripping from your impaled wrists and ankles.

Syracuse knew her work, however; she'd skinned you masterfully enough that she hadn't punctured into your muscles or cut open your tendons. Otherwise you probably would bleed to death, though considering your constitution it would've taken awhile.

But while you were fairly inured it pain you still didn't like _being_ in pain. Either way you were so preoccupied by your mental recount you didn't even notice her cleaning the blade off to the side, the last piece of your skin being tossed into the furnace, before the Angelo approached you.

Even when she pulled at the hoist, flipping you over so you were suspended upright, you didn't pay any attention to her. It was only when she slap you did you finally rouse yourself even if your demon bristled at the touch.

"Are you conscious?" Syracuse asked you. Her voice made you open your eyes, the pain having lulled you into a pseudo trance.

After a moment you swallowed dryly before saying quietly, "Yes."

She stared at you unblinkingly for several moments to which you just stared back at her. There was the brief, wild urge to bite her fingers off which you quickly smothered. 

The Angelo's red-tinted eyes flared slightly before she smiled, patting your cheek with her bloodied talons, and saying, "Good. Now stay here and think upon your actions."

Then she left you alone.

* * *

For the most part you just shuffled through memories rather than paying attention to the burning pain encasing the majority of your body as you hung there. You weren't allowed to do anything about your skinned body until Syracuse decided your punishment was met so you had to suffer silently. Which you did, mostly. Occasionally you'd inhale too sharply or your exposed muscles would start spasming, sending bolts of agony spiking up into your head that would just make you twitch and shudder until you regained control of yourself.

It was, at the very least, a good lesson in restraint. Maybe that was what Syracuse wanted to teach you, considering you'd been too stupid to get either the Necronomicon or the Yamato.

The Yamato. Well now you finally figured out why you were so wary of the sword and why it had felt strange to you. You were just lucky the other half-breed lacked the finesse to slice you to pieces considering the sword's reported sharpness. You were also lucky you never actually managed to break the sword, which had been your intention in your second fight with him. Syracuse would've most likely killed you outright for doing so.

Especially since Lord Mundus wanted that blade himself. Since the katana had cut the worlds asunder it would no doubt be capable of slicing through the chasm diving Hell and the Human World to let the Demon Emperor pass through and take his rightful place as master of all living beings. Especially since the humans no longer had the betrayer for a protector. You nearly robbed him of that chance through your ignorance and stupidity.

Though a part of you still found it a bit odd that half-starved, pale teenager was the son of the Dark Knight. You knew enough that Sparda had two hybrid children but they weren't anything of note. Though that other- _Vergil_ -managed to fight you fairly equally it was still hard for you to believe he was the child of the greatest enemy of your father.

You did wonder if he'd been raised much like yourself. There wasn't a lot of tales in Hell about the Dark Knight's personality beyond the fact he was a traitor and an oath breaker and probably was someone who could decapitate you in a single move.

Hm. Maybe you could learn how to survive decapitation down the line. After all you were surviving well enough with no skin even if the restrains were uncomfortable. The thick ropes of muscles bracketing your spine tensed, the crimson flesh twitching sporadically before you forced yourself to relax again. At your wrists and ankles the bleeding had mostly stopped besides the occasional dribble of blood when you slightly shifted. The cold iron was leeching the heat from your bones, almost as if hoarfrost was creeping through the marrow. It was a nice contrast to the burning pain everywhere else that you were currently experiencing. It was distracting.

_Living is pain. It reminds you of your place in the worlds._

Your keeper had said that to you when, at the age of seven, you'd gotten your arm torn off at the shoulder and you'd screamed at the sensation of ripping skin, of tearing muscles and tendons as the bone was twisted from the socket. That had been one of the few times your keeper had outright healed you rather than making you deal with i t on your own. That had escalated to more lessons about the importance of keeping your mind focused despite agony. A series of long, nasty lessons you hadn't been in a hurry to repeat and occasionally had nightmares about months afterwards though you were reliving something akin to that while dangling in place, majority of skin peeled from your body as poison gnawed at the exposed muscles.

It was difficult to actually think after a while so instead you just began to mentally recall other lessons from your keeper as you couldn't keep your attention fixated enough on the other hybrid and the Necronomicon debacle to contemplate about it. Instead you just thought back to your weapon training, how you'd grown adept at wielding every type of weapon even if you favoured the rapier. A katana certainly wasn't a weapon strange to you though the revelation the one you encountered had been Yamato addressed the uneven size between wielder and weapon the hybrid had- katanas were proportionate to their owners height and since the weapon was inherited no wonder it hadn't matched his height. Katana's were uncommon but not unheard of in the Underworld, with the like of Kitsune and Oni being known to wield the weapons or their cousins.

_Katana, wakizashi, chokutō, tsurugi, tachi, kodachi, ōdachi, nagamaki, naginata, yari, tantō, ken._

You mentally ran through those types of weapons, thinking back to your training with them and the move sets you'd been taught. Of the pros and cons of each weapon It was a reprieve from your burning flesh and that was how you spent the next few days, just recalling your keeper's teachings with weapon art between your brief naps and absent-minded dozing.

Not much else to do, after all.

You were dozing, thoughts murky and strange while your flayed flesh stung from where you still strung up when Syracuse returned upon the dusk of day three.You'd gone through sensory deprivation and torture under your keeper but this time it was without the calming atmosphere of Hell. The lack of magic suffusing the air was still odd and you were pondering upon that between the ebb and flow of your thoughts when the bolts impaling your wrists get pulled free.

A dull _clank_ echoed through the room as Syracuse tossed the bolts aside before yanking out the pins embedded in your feet. Finally she pulled your head out of brace and shoved you off the harness.

"Perhaps there is something to salvage," Syracuse said to you while you lay in a dazed heap on the floor, raw crimson flesh twitching sporadically as you fought back the urge to cry, "You did not scream once or try to break free which is more than others who'd been in your place. Obedience and knowing your place are vital for one of your ilk so take this as a lesson learned. Understand this, however, little fledging. You will not be warned again."

"...Understood," your voice was near inaudible but Syracuse nonetheless hummed in approval at the response.

The Angelo crouched down next to your skinned body before you felt her press a Holy Star and then a large Vital Star against the small of your back, the star-shaped stones flaring as they made contact with your raw nerves and muscles before collapsing into shimmering motes of magic which your body eagerly absorbed. The searing agony that'd plagued you for days faded as your skin regrew, the stinging poison being banished alongside the pain while the bones of your wrists and ankles snapped back into place. Despite the urge to just lie there you forced yourself back up to your feet, resisting the urge to hug yourself as you staggered upright.

Syracuse was in her demon form, all narrow lines and pointed angles. Her spiky wings hiked up slightly as she eyed you speculatively as you stood. You half expected her to strike you considering the annoyance you could still feel emanating from her. 

Instead she dismissed you with a curt, "Get out."

You left, wrapping your arms around your naked chest as you stumbled into the hall and walked down the corridor. The Stars had fully healed you but you still felt raw and exposed, and it wasn't from being unclothed.

Fingers dug into your forearms as you tried to correct your posture, spine aching as the bones clicked. You felt so stiff from being bound for three days, movements slightly staggering as you walked. At the very least this part of Devil's Dalliance was fairly deserted, considering you'd never seen anyone else besides Syracuse or Lilith despite being aware of the demonic energy suffusing the place. 

As such you got back to your room without encountering anyone, quickly crossing through the apartment to the bathroom before climbing into the shower. You switched it on, uncaring of it being icy cold as you tipped your head up into the spray with your mouth open to try and rid your mouth of its sticky dryness.

After a moment you ended up smothering yourself in one of the sweet smelling lotions. You'd avoided them thus far, thinking they'd be too liable to be tracked but you didn't care about it as you rubbed it into your restored skin until it was thick and foamy. It felt nice. After several minutes you just sat down in the shower while rubbing at your skull then at your nape as the water fell over you. It felt a little odd suddenly having your skin back after three days of burning naked pain.

For nearly fifteen minutes you stayed in the shower before switching it off and towelling yourself dry. Then you went to the kitchen and drank three glasses of water in quick succession, the coarseness of your throat finally fading. You started to feel immensely vexed about how quiet your room was for some reason, which didn't really make sense considering you'd spent the last three days bound and alone in a silent room. Shaking that off you cleaned out the glass and put it away, noting that your cellphone was on the marble bench. You guessed Syracuse had returned it after destroying your clothes.

You ignored the fridge, fairly certain you couldn't stomach anything in your current state, and instead just went into the bedroom and climbed into your nest of blankets. You tugged the nearest duvet around your shoulders, nails sharpening into claws slightly as you kneaded the plush fabric. You weren't tired- the Star made sure of that -but you felt tense and slow all the same.

Wanting to get rid of the silence you turned on the television, the channel already on the human news one as you flicked it on. Apparently there was a 'political candidate debate' or something, according to the rolling headline, which made you squint at the screen where two humans were set up on podiums with another human standing between them like some mediator. You didn't really understand it even as the humans carried on talking.

_"Yes I used tax payer money to fund my prostitution ring and hire hitmen to murder my enemies but in my defence I feel great remorse for any harm my actions may have caused. I believe that shouldn't impact any decisions the voters may have in the up coming elections due to me being very upfront about my actions when they were revealed by a journalist who meant an unfortunate end two days ago in a horribly freak car explosion."_

_"Very brave words from political hopeful Humphrey Jones. Now to his opponent, Susan Coleen. Susan, what you do say in response to this?"_

_"Thank you Carol. Well of course I've had a very active career- whale hunter, seal clubber, calf smotherer and now politician, but I can confidently say I've never dabbled in hiring mercenaries to do the dirty work for me. I am very upfront about any potential dirt- or even blood -that may be on my hands because I don't shy away from personal responsibility unlike Mr. Jones."_

_"Oh please Susan-"_

_"Don't call me Susan."_

_"Fine, 'Miss Coleen'. You say you're more upfront than myself? More transparent? Then is the rumours around your history of devil worship true?"_

_"Those were just high school clubs and my record is freely available for the public. Yes I was a member of the occult club back then and yes we occasionally did animal sacrifices- though they were also part of our activities in the environmental conservation club where we caught feral pests like rats, ferrets, stoats and weasels to help the local native wildlife population. The sacrifices were killed humanely and afterwards we'd use the bodies as fertilizer for the school garden plots. As my supporters know, I am very devoted to dealing with environmental issues and am hands on."_

_"Stop dodging the question- did you worship demons? How can you trusted to represent humanities best interest as a political representative if your allegiance is towards a different race?"_

_"Uh just to jump in here Mr. Jones, you should use the term 'species' on this topic."_

_"Of course Carol, my apologies. So back to the question, Miss Coleen. How can we be so sure of your continued interests in humanity first with such ties?"_

_"Really? It was silly teenage drama. Demons don't even exist, I know that now."_

_"So I assume all those people who died back in York New just spontaneously combusted then? There have been multiple eye-witness accounts of demons appearing in-"_

_"If you think demons exist then why not dragons, or elves or unicorns? Are we going to being them up in a political debate?"_

_"Oh please, we all know unicorns went extinct-"_

You switched off the television, scowling at the blank screen with a brief urge to chuck the remote at it. Instead you put the remote off to the side before getting up and going to put on some clothes. You suddenly couldn't tolerate being in the room any more and wanted to leave. Syracuse had dismissed you but she hadn't said you needed to stay in your room. Your phone had been returned so you be easily contacted.

With that in mind you quickly pulled on some underwear, a shirt, black cargo pants and another red hoodie- though this one had delicate white patterns of thorns and flowers running along the sleeves and sides. That done you grabbed a pair of sneakers and, after tucking your phone into your pocket, you pulled up your hood before disappearing out the window and off into the dusky landscape of the city.

* * *

For nearly five hours you just aimlessly walked around, hands in your pockets and hood kept up. You were still fairly irritable with Syracuse cutting all your hair off but that was mainly due to the fact you couldn't use it for spellwork any more until it grew out more. You had kept scratching at your wrists and forearms, hence you forcing your hands into the pockets. Your skin felt oddly itchy and you tried to force that to the back of your mind as you concentrated on your surroundings.

A lot of the nightlight in Limbo City was noisy, drunk and fond of neon lighting. Occasionally demons used lights to trick and ensnare prey but with humans they just seemed very excited by the lights in general. You eyed numerous clubs, bars and stumbling groups of drunks while your demon shifted like a beast waiting to pounce. You still felt incredibly annoyed over your failure with the Necronomicon and that stupid, intrusive hybrid. You rather wished he was in Limbo City somewhere so you could maul his face off. See how he enjoyed not having skin for a while.

You brooded over the issue as you wandered down the street, a fine misty rain painting the concrete and asphalt in a shimmery layer that reflected the overhead street lights. High above you occasionally saw the moon as it struggled to peak past the thick clouds overhead.

Your walk was aimless, just ambling along the pavement and occasionally human watching. Humans weren't a nocturnal race but they were very active in this nightlife and seemed fine with getting drunk though there were less and less in this current block you were wandering through. Then again two millennia of safety must have ruined any self preservation instincts they'd had.

On the end of that thought your attention snagged on an alleyway you passed, your sharp hearing catching the noise of a fist impacting on flesh followed by a muffled noise of pain. You paused, head cocked to the side before you doubled back to peer down the alleyway you'd just walked by, noting the two humans as you edged towards them.

A woman had her hands up in placation, body trembling from where the man was pinning her against the brick with an elbow upon her sternum. Even this far away you could hear the woman's heartbeat and her rapid breathing. Her purse was strewn across the dirty ground along with a smashed cellphone and wallet, and even as you watched the man pointed the tip of his knife at her face while hissing at her in a low threatening tone. The knife wasn't that large, the blade only the length of your hand but the woman seemed immensely frightened of it.

 _He's wearing yellow. Lilith did say I'm free to hunt, free to kill those human gang members._ You cocked your head to the side even as the man tightened his grip on the woman's throat, yanking her roughly forward before shoving her back so her skull collided with the wall with a dull thud. You _were_ hungry. Suddenly, horribly hungry and your set your jaw even as your senses sharpened. 

"Stop that," though your voice was soft, it instantly caught both of the human's attention.

You could see the way the man's expression shifted from wary to a sneer as he realized that, to him, you simply looked like a teenage human girl. The woman however remained panicked, tear stains shining like silver along her cheekbones as she tugged ineffectively at the man's wrist.

"Fuck off girly, this isn't your business," the man snarled.

There was the urge to show your fangs but you ignored it to step further into the alleyway. While the man's attention was focused on you, you spared the woman a brief glance and was surprised at the way she shook her head. Your intention was to draw the man to you, so the woman could flee which in turn would allow you to kill the man without witnesses then you could feed without interference. You hadn't yet faced a human in one on one combat and this human was armed but didn't really know what the woman was trying to convey. 

You took several more steps towards them, movements languid and slow to skitter upon the edge of nonchalant. You had to stop your nails from lengthening and was amused to note how the man was now pointing the knife at you, though his other hand was still firmly clamped around the woman's neck.

"I told you to stop," you said, voice still calm.

"And I told you to fuck off!' with an angry movement the man turned towards you, pulling the woman with him before he shoved her down the alleyway behind him to face you fully He thrust the knife towards you, obviously intending to be threatening but not actually close enough to stab you. 

You eyed the blade; was he being so clumsy with the knife to catch you off guard? You could just break his wrist and-

"Leave her alone!" the woman shrieked, scrambling back up to her feet before leaping forward to seize the back of the man's shirt.

Her sudden attack caught the man off guard and he stumbled, arms flailing as he twisted around. She lost her grip with his momentum and the man took advantage of that to stab her in the side of her abdomen with his knife, the blade sinking in to the hilt. There was a soft noise as the stabbing knocked the air from the woman's lungs, a look of surprise on her face.

Meanwhile you jumped forward, pouncing up to seize the man's head from behind as he seemed likewise frozen; one hand reached forward to grip his chin while the other was firmly clamped on his nape before you twisted and _pulled._ With a dull crack his neck broke, his entire body going stiff before you tossed the now-corpse away from the woman. The knife hilt slipped from his limp grip, the woman grabbing it reflexively as she stumbled back into the wall and slid down to the ground with blood oozing from the wound.

 _Boring,_ you thought, poking the man's dead body with the toe of your sneaker.

"Oh shit, oh shit," the woman's voice was now soft and shaky as she pressed a trembling hand to the knife. Before you could stop her she yanked it out and threw it away. She let out a gasp, hands pushing frantically against the wound while red spilled from the punctured flesh to quickly stain the hem of her denim shorts.

You crouched down next to her, elbows resting on your knees and balanced on the balls of your feet as you sniffed; as you thought, the knife had punctured into her descending colon due to the angle and length. Already you could smell the toxicity as the poison contained with the digestive track began to seep into the surrounding flesh. You could heal naturally from that due to your demonic blood but for humans you knew sepsis was most likely fatal. 

The woman's breathing was tight and short, more tears spilling down her face before she seemed to register your presence. You could see the marks on her neck and the small silver piercings looped through her dark eyebrows. Her shoulder length hair was dirtied from the filthy brick wall and even as you watched she shoved a hand against her face in a thoughtless, panicked gesture that just smeared blood across her features before grabbing at her wound again.

"You won't be able to heal that on your own," you finally said, nodding at the wound. The blood was down seeping down past her shorts to soak through into her dark tights. If the sepsis didn't kill her blood loss likely would.

She seemed to ignore your comment, instead asking you in a shaking voice, "Are you okay?"

You had no idea why the human was asking you that, considering she was clearly the injured party, but you nonetheless responded, "I'm fine. Why did you attack that man? I would have dealt with him. I intended to."

"I couldn't let him hurt you, you're just a little kid," the woman shuddered, barring bloodied teeth as she leaned back against the wall with her eyes clenched shut, "Fuck! He broke my fucking phone. Oh Gods, this shit hurts. Shit!"

She remained that way for a few seconds, legs trembling as she breathed hard through her clenched teeth while more tears slid down her face. Her fingers dug into the skin around the wound, which just worsened the bleeding. Her hands were stained red.

It was interesting, to observe a human in pain- an injury such as that would hardly bother you. You'd been raised in pain. Even being flayed by Syracuse you just grit your teeth and bore it with the grace of long experience. It was the closest thing to a friend you'd had within your life in Hell. But with this human woman she'd all been but rendered useless with a simple knife to the gut. When you leaned over and picked up the discarded blade you verified it wasn't poisoned at all. Even the blade was straight edged, not barbed or serrated. _So fragile._

"Can you- can you call an ambulance?"

"Your descending colon has been punctured," you said blandly, looking away from the knife to the woman. 

"W-what?"

"The toxicity within your intestines is spreading through your organs. Can hu- can they fix that with this 'ambulance'?" you asked. You knew what a hospital and doctors were but had never seen one in action so the idea intrigued you. Demons didn't exactly have health care in the Underworld.

"Oh fuck, that's bad isn't it?" the human groaned before she started to cry in earnest, "Shit. Fuck this. Fuck that asshole. Gods, it hurts."

You reached out, intending to give the human the mercy of a quick death when you hesitated; memories of you sensing the whale suddenly surged to the front of your minds. Then your thoughts shifted to the pale hybrid and how you _felt_ him during the fight, how you sensed the tension within his muscles and the surge of energy within his limbs.

_Perhaps..._

Slowly your hands dropped from where you'd been reaching for the woman's face and you instead gently pushed her hands aside so your palms were lying flat against the deceptively narrow puncture wound of her skin. The human's bloodied hands didn't resist your movements even if she curled her fingers loosely around your wrists as if in comfort as she continued to cry.

Your eyes slid shut as your reached out with your senses, using your hands as a focal point to push your aura into the woman's body. It was easier than the hybrid but more difficult than the whale but after some effort you found yourself shifting through the woman's body. You could feel the trembling in her limbs, the clamminess and rapid heart rate signalling her descent into blood loss. It was fascinating to sense how her body was still functioning but how there was no healing to actually fix the issue. Her heart was still functioning, circulating platelets, blood cells and plasma through her body but you could sense how that was spilling through her side. As you guessed her descending colon had been punctured, to the point it was nearly been sliced in half and already you could sense the toxicity seeping out to poison her. You were well versed in the arts of poison so you carefully nullified the toxins and destroyed the infection before it could take root before healing the puncture in her colon.

Then you shifted your senses to the layers of flesh encasing the organs, healing the tear within the fatty tissue to leave it healthy and whole. Satisfied your attention shifted to the secondary layer, the dermis, which housed the sweat and oil glands, lymph vessels and nerve endings. With this you moved carefully, not wanting to fuse the flesh back together wrong and perhaps make the skin deadened and without sensation. That would be a failure you could not abide and you could almost sense your keeper's cold regard as you healed the human slowly and methodically.

Then you fused the upper layer of the epidermis back together, stitching it back up with your demonic aura acting as a needle and thread. As you weaved the skin back together you carefully inscribed a seal of healing just underneath the layer of skin which would be fed by her naturally cycling blood which would finish the final aspects of healing such as replenishing her lost blood cells and ward off any chance of long term infection.

It was easy yet difficult at the same time, you were so used to your own body and that even with the human woman's being so close to your own in bone, organ and muscle structure it was strange sensing through someone else. It was also odd dealing with a human body that lacked the far superior self healing of your own half demon body; wounds that would heal in minutes would take weeks, even months, for the human and her body was fairly useless in accepting your healing even if it didn't resist. You had no idea how humans tolerated being so weak.

By the time you were finished you were exhausted, even if only a few minutes had passed. Your awareness returned back to your body, opening your eyes to see your shimmering white aura flicker away from where it was mostly consolidated on your hands. You pulled them away, crouched on the balls of your feet as you inspected the human's skin critically before wiping away the warm blood with your fingers and was satisfied to note the skin was now smooth and whole.

Your vision blurred as you rocked backwards and it was only when you actually focused on your hands did you realized they were pebbled with golden scales. Above, the sky was dark and the rain had thickened into a steady downpour.

At some point your wings had manifested, the white feathers pristine and shimmering despite the filthy alleyway from where the long feathers were brushing the ground and walls from where they were partially cupping the human. Your demonic self must have manifested with the amount of energy you'd pushed into the human.

Said human was staring at you with a completely shocked look on her face, mouth open and eyes wide. 

Quickly you folded your wings back, scales seeping back into smooth skin as you straightened up. You knew you should kill the human, you'd only healed her to test your abilities and she was hale and whole now. After all there were millions in the city and they would hardly bat an eye at one dead. You could just break her neck or strangle her or even stab her to death like that other human had intended-

You did none of those things, instead just pressing a finger against your lips before bending down and picking up the man's corpse. You easily hefted it up onto your shoulder and with a quick motion flared out your wings and took off, leaving the woman staring after you.

* * *

The skyline of Limbo City was fetching in the dark rain; numerous skyscrapers were still lit up to augment the numerous shop signs and cars weaved too and fro with their headlights refracting off the water. You were sitting up on the roof of a building, only around ten stories tall but still let you overview the city well enough. You were seated underneath a large umbrella set up on a table, the rooftop restaurant shut for the night so you were undisturbed. The partially mangled body of the human man was draped on the table, chest cavity pried open so you could get to the innards. They'd cooled somewhat since you'd sent some time healing the woman but your hunger had risen with a vengeance so you weren't complaining, especially since healing that woman had left you exhausted.

Currently you were gnawing on a rib, bone chewed through so you could get to the marrow. Above the rain bounced off the umbrella with soothing repetition.

You really should go back and kill that woman.

You didn't know why you hadn't done it. You just reasoned it was because she wasn't a threat. After all, she was felled by a simple stab wound so it didn't matter what happened. She wouldn't be able to do anything. And it had been a good opportunity to experiment with your powers. At least you _could_ use your senses on humans like that, which you had been unable to do with demons. It was an interesting revelation. 

Hooked fangs crushed the rib before you swallowed it down, licking your fingers. Apart from your teeth you were mostly human. There was also the lingering urge to claw at your forearms again which you didn't understand. Maybe it was a lingering desire to harm yourself over your failure with the Necronomicon as well. After all that failed mission also resulted in Syracuse losing faith with you. Which hurt your pride, because you knew you were capable despite being a half-breed. You didn't want the decade and a half of training to be for naught. To spurn your keeper's dedication to your training and your father's decision to spare your life because he saw potential in you.

 _It wasn't my fault, it was that other stupid hybrid and his interference,_ you thought crankily, stuffing a kidney in your mouth. Blood stained your lips and chin. You were furious over the whole incident, curiosity having given way to murderous rage. You wanted to disembowel that stranger next time you met him. Beat his skull in and maybe cut his limbs off for good measure. 

Even as you thought that you knew it wouldn't work. He matched you in skill and strength when you tried killing him in the library so you weren't sure if you could actually overpower him in a straight-up fight. You'd gotten an edge on him in demon form but even then you couldn't bypass his defence enough to cripple him. Though the priority would be the Yamato, not the hybrid. Maybe Lord Mundus would want him alive but the main focus was that dark forged katana he had.

Licking off your fingers you scowled at the horizon, running various scenarios in your mind. If you _did_ retrieve the Yamato it would go a long way in redeeming yourself. You'd just need to fine a way to nullify the user. 

You looked down at your hands and then the partially eaten corpse in front of you. You thought back to how you healed that woman and knew that, if you wanted to you could've easily killed her via a blood clot in the brain or giving her a heart attack. You could've even put an elemental sigil inside her innards to kill her from the inside out.

 _Maybe..._ You snapped off another rib, hooked fangs cracking it in half as you thought furiously. If you couldn't kill that other hybrid outright then you'd need to find a different method. You'd encountered him twice while hunting down artefacts so if you kept being given those missions it was highly likely you would encounter him again. You knew you wouldn't be able to track him down, since he had that teleportation ability and from Syracuse's comments he'd been hunted for years with no success.

However you had a strong feeling he was as curious about you as you were about him. Hybrids were rare and you'd caught him off guard with your admittance you had no idea who he was and that you weren't hunting him. You could use that. If you encountered him later and didn't attack him right away, perhaps you could find a way to incapacitate him without an outright fight? He was too skilled for you to just beat unconscious but something insidious and underhanded could work. Maybe you could poison him or hamstring him or _something_ if you acted friendly? You could admit you wanted to know more about this illusive Son of Sparda- not just because of his lineage but also because of his half demon/human nature like yourself. Maybe you could use that?

Act friendly, maybe. Or at least not attack him outright next time you met. Maybe be standoffish to not come across as too obvious. He'd been hunted for years so maybe you'd have to start off slow, just base civility and then maybe, slowly, carefully, get close enough to take Yamato or at the very least close enough to disable him. If you did so then you'd prove your worth in acquiring the weapon desired by your King, to make up for your failure. The hybrid was just a means to an end and you'd have no issues with potentially exploiting him to get that katana. Of course it could just backfire but you figured trying to use brute strength wouldn't work- especially since you knew from the gossip in Hell the Dark Knight had been missing for a decade and his human mate killed -since he'd been hunted since a child with no real success. You'd need to try a different angle.

You rested your elbows on the table top, sharp nails peeling muscles from a limb of your dinner as your thoughts drifted off to how you'd enact your plan. Because you'd get a hold of Yamato even if it killed you.

* * *


	13. Inch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, I have over thirty chapters in various states in this fic so I've been scribbling out stuff for whatever part gets my fancy rather than actually trying to write it in order. I figured I'd give a small update so you guys know I haven't forgotten about this fic. As it is, I'm in the super boring 'establish' phrase so it's just getting things laid down hence me being 'urgh eye roll' while trying to write it which you'll prob pick up lol 
> 
> And I'm also curious, what are you guys hoping to see or want in this fic? I mean, besides from Vergil and Nero obviously 

* * *

For the next seven months you were sent on various errands and tasks from Syracuse, with no sighting of the other hybrid whatsoever. They were simple, almost insultingly so, but you knew far better than to ever say that aloud. You still held a great deal of unease around the Angelo after being flayed, even if you knew it was for a good reason. It didn't stop you from feeling tense and aggravated when you were around her, which frustrated you.

As the months rolled by you succeeded at every mission she gave you, until she stopped looking so disgusted by your presence and slowly the missions began to inch up in importance. Most were basic retrievals but then you began to be given assassinations and sabotage tasks which you enjoyed. 

You were fairly disappointed in humans as a whole, in terms of opponents. They died so easily. Demons wouldn't die unless killed but humans just seemed to die from anything and everything. One even got hit by a bus and died right in front of you when you were walking through the city one day. The humans who witnessed it panicked which was another marvel. In Hell demons died all the time but from how the humans reacted you guessed casual dying just wasn't something they were exposed to. Humans disproved of casual death/killings (or murder as they called it) and it was fascinating to watch the aftermath. Especially when the human healers showed up to scrape pieces of the dead human off the road.

Observation only carried you so far and after some dithering you ended up making a notebook for yourself, partially inspired by the flesh-bound state of the Necronomicon. You reasoned that since you could easily absorb your rapier back into yourself, if you made a notebook from your own skin it would be easily hidden just the same. It was a way to bypass your keeper's scolding for keeping notes easily accessible for strangers to stumble across as you reasons if you had it hidden within your internal inventory it would only be found if you were dead. It would help for you to write down your observations and studies in the Human World especially since you kept tripping up on dealing with the humans themselves. Good thing they weren't an overly suspicious lot so they didn't look too closely at the demon wearing a human face creeping around them.

At least the Human World was very free with their knowledge- you spent days studying in the library and even went to a leather workshop humans had on to further perfect your idea of such a notebook. Your fumbling efforts back in Hell had produced acceptable leathercraft but it was still fairly far removed from professionally made items. Humans were very eager to share knowledge, information and techniques with each other which you found intriguing so you didn't hesitate to use those resources to further yourself. With that in mind you ended up purchasing a series of private lessons with the human in charge who walked you though the process enough afternoons until you were confident in your skills.

Using most of an afternoon you carefully skinned portions of your thighs to use as the covers and pages. At least the human leather worker didn't question what type of skin it was when you arrived at the workshop and helped you through tanning and dying it properly then having the book set and bound, including using their own bone tools for much of the process. You eagerly soaked up the information but declined the offer for them to design the cover for you, you already having a mental plan for the sigils you'd etch into it.

When you got back to your room you then spent the rest of the night carefully inscribing the runes and seals on the cover and back, along with replacing the ring spine of the book with strings of your blood enchanted hair along with a makeshift lock to bind it. It took some ripping, as Syracuse had cut off the majority of your hair while flaying you but you had enough fuzz remaining to braid together the strings. The sigils were for durability and to keep the notebook keyed to your demonic signature and blood- you had to fuss with some of the seals, burning off your fingers or rotting your nails several times, until you got it right, but in the end the book would only open for you. Anyone else tried it would result in the book bursting into flames and getting destroyed.

You could use your own plucked feathers as quills, just pushing your blood through the hollow shaft to the cut nib of the feather's spine to act as a pen on the parchment-like pages. You didn't mind using your blood as ink but like when you used them as throwing knives they'd fade away to nothing if you didn't keep physical hold of them.

Out of aesthetic taste you tried drawing a stylized bird on the cover, a crude mimic of how your soul sigil looked. It was a bit wonky but you could still recognize it as a bird so that was enough. At the very least you liked having a means to scribble out plans or ideas, rather that just letting them jumble about in your head. 

When writing down some thoughts and plans you realized your plot about getting Yamato however hit a very big snag very early on.

Namely you realized you had absolutely no idea how to approach someone under the guise of friendship.

You'd never had a friend.

Watching the television gave you some ideas so you spent a week watching 'soap opera's' (which you didn't understand the name considering there was no soap) and ended up fairly confused over how human relationships functioned. Some mimicked demon behaviour, with a lot of hatred, violence and attempted murder but others had a massive amount of dependency and obsession or weird intimacy you didn't understand.

With demons, there was a great deal of acquaintanceship and tolerance- being familiar with a demon but still not letting down your guard completely. This would usually occur when there was a close power balance, not too strong but not too weak either. Demons were very much opportunists and in many cases patient. Lying in wait until the perfect opportunity if their companion was stupid enough to relax enough. To be on edge yet familiar painted a fairly common 'friendship' for demons. Business was a lot different than friendship thought humans often got that confused, you realized. Many weaker demons would curry favour, offering servitude or themselves in return for the protection of a far stronger demon. That also tied in with being true friendships were incredibly rare, in equal part to the paranoia of Hell and also the high risk of having said friend weaponized against you by your enemies. Family units were more common but they varied wildly from demon type to demon type. Your own family unit simply had Lord Mundus and he wouldn't care if you were taken or died. It would just mean you were weak and thus deserved it. 

Mates were another thing all together and you didn't bother thinking about that. It wouldn't apply to you, after all.

But on the whole demons rarely grew 'genuine' friendships as humans called it, just by their violent natures. The high rates of deceit and lying just mean it was immensely difficult to judge another's sincerity, even if they knew one another for centuries. Business deals were very different from friendships, as a demon trading or bartering unusually would hold to their word if approached correctly but the relationship would change if friendship was ever introduced. A demon's word wasn't exactly ironclad unless they were one of those oath obsessed knights.

Then again, demon knights were a particularly odd breed even in Hell. And that held true before Sparda's betrayal and continued to do so.

So the number one thing you quickly deduced about your plan to get Yamato was that you needed to move your 'base' from Devil's Dalliance, even as you continued to investigate human friendships. The whole place reeked of Lilith, not to mention it was a popular place for an Angelo which was one of Lord Mundus' most easily recognized creations. There was some internal debate but since the fifth month Syracuse had simply been texting your assignments again so the only time you needed to report back to the club was to turn in items you'd retrieved. You couldn't proceed with your plan as long as you potentially carried the risk of exposing you association to Lord Mundus.

Syracuse didn't care when you mentioned establishing some kind of base beyond Devil's Dalliance, curtly informing you to make sure you were still available which you agreed to without complaint. Her permission achieved you then started going through the process of finding a new lair. With demons it would just be 'kill the original habitant and move in' for a new home but humans were a lot more fragile and soft compared to Hell's citizens. They had entire careers dedicated to selling homes or even building them for others which helped you immensely and you spent some time between missions wandering through the city to view the real estate offices and inspecting the locations offered. You didn't want to be too distant from human civilization, that might come across as you wanting to hide, but at the same time you couldn't pick something too obvious as it might blow your cover. Something _high._

Though you very quickly ran into another snag with that plan.

Namely you were what humans called 'under age' for doing basically everything.

You found that beyond ridiculous, angrily arguing with one of the women at the desk at the real estate business you visited. Eventually you called the humans there a bunch of 'idiotic fuckers' and got told to leave with you did after a bout of some more swearing.

It was insulting to have the humans say right to your face that you were too incompetent to buy property due to your age. You had been trained for one and a half decades, you'd survived a year in Hell, and now some weak limbed human was saying you couldn't do something without 'parents permission'? The sheer audacity from those humans enraged you and it took everything in you to not kill everyone involved. If in Hell you killed the original inhabitant it would be yours. No demon would complain that you were too young. If you were strong enough to hold the territory then that was what mattered. Some demon young were vicious and wild the instant they were born but humans as a whole had useless offspring that couldn't do anything for years.

You were lucky your keeper had no tolerance for such a useless existence and your earliest memories were of training. You'd moved beyond your human weaknesses, even if you could never compete with a true-born devil such as Lord Mundus.

It left you angry though, knowing you'd hit a wall in your quest. It also revealed more issues of so-called 'documentation'. A part of you scoffed; you weren't exactly a Human World citizen and apparently humans were completely obsessed with laws and rules. Passports and drivers licenses and birth certificates and much more. The whole idea angered you. You nearly asked Lilith for help, considering she'd been around for quite some time, but after some thought bypassed that. The less people who knew your plan the better. The best kept secret was the one untold.

Housing was the main burden but you managed to bypass the underage rule with learning to drive. The woman you called in the newspaper for lessons had asked for your learners license and you just handed her a roll of hundred dollar bills in response. She'd stared before hastily stuffing it into her handbag and then ushering you to the car to teach you. While that had worked, trying to buy a house required a lot more time and paperwork to gain. There was a brief thought of just claiming some abandoned housing but you also dismissed that.

 _This is so bothersome,_ you thought crossly. It was ridiculous that humans had so many weird steps in their lives, the constant whining for permission. For you, you obeyed Syracuse and by extension Lord Mundus because you were their faithful servant and loyal to the Prince of Darkness. Because he had earned such a title. Having to hold out your hand to humans, who you could break with one finger, left you vexed. 

That, and you needed a location before proceeding with your plan and you didn't want to waste too much time. Anyone could kill that pale hybrid while you dithered.

Luckily the odd app on your phone ended up being what you needed. It was a simple one labelled 'accountant' but when you visited the site it offered help with human technological issues. You filled out the form on your phone and sent it to 'Belinda', the one running that particular service. She got back to you within the minute, blunt and specific when she responded.

You quickly deduced the demon behind it was an Infestant, a parasitic demon capable of merging with human technology and possessing it. A more recent breed but exactly what you needed in the current scenario. She easily offered her service in forging documents for you and also assured you she could help with residency in all manner of the word. One part was making human documents and another was acquiring the real estate needed. She offered to hand off that last part to one of her human associates who'd pass it to a unknowing party, so you wouldn't risk exposing your new address to her. She stressed that she understood discretion and you had a feeling she'd dealt with demons who'd escaped from Hell to live in the Human World before. As before, business was quite different than friendship and you read through the protocols along with the very stern rules of the app itself you felt confident enough to believe her. You had mixed opinions about that last part but didn't say so and accepted her offer, along with her price.

Said price was both a hefty sum of red orbs, most of which you could pay from your horde gathered back in Hell. You were a bit low for the rest and offered to do any job for her Human World side and she accepted the compromise, asking for you to find her a toadstone. Said task sent you stomping through mudflats and digging through thick rancid foulness until you located one of the partially fossilized beasts and you returned smelling horrendous enough your shower nearly burned the first layer of skin off. Then you dropped off the toadstone- the squirming small beast stuffed into a grocery bag -at the dead dropped asked and not even one minute later Belinda text messaged to finalize your deal. With that you both proceeded with finalizing the documents and stating that you could use the information to purchase one lot of real estate with an associate code she'd send, you were one step closer to your goal.

You name inked for forged documents, Belinda sent you to a P.O box in some isolated township for you to retrieve. That done you kept the documents close in hand, as you'd be able to store them at your new house.

After some thought you chose to buy a lighthouse at the end of a peninsular. Private and largely surrounded by the ocean. Money was no problem for you, with the sheer amount Lilith had given you in untraceable bills. With the new documents Belinda had forged for you, you ended up depositing a large amount of the money into your own bank account. You also asked Lilith for more and she'd just hand you a bag full of the colourful paper while telling you to go wild. Money was incredibly easy to forge in the Human World, unlike in Hell where red orbs were blood. Unable to counterfeit but humans were a lot more simple in their money management which was easily to your benefit.

With your traits in mind you ended up buying a homestead with an attached lighthouse, located far away enough from the local township you could easily leave in your demon form without scaring humans but still close enough to easily visit. It was rather ridiculous how easy it was now to buy property just with contacting someone who knew the system and a part of you was still annoyed with everything, simply having to refrain from meeting in person in case the humans threw another tantrum about your age. Now though you'd just handed over everything to the contact, a part of you paranoid but knowing the rules for demons here were different for those in Hell, and by the end of it you were given the deed and keys of your new lair without any more hiccups. You checked the empty house and lighthouse thoroughly for traps before staying away for nearly a month after laying down some simple sigils of detection, lingering around Devil's Dalliance before going back. No traps either and your seals hadn't been activated.

Leaving Devil's Dalliance was easy as Syracuse didn't care as long as you did your missions so you didn't bother her with it. Instead you just took all the clothing given to you and left. You had no personal effects.

You arrived at the yard in the dead of night; the lighthouse was at the end of a grassy peninsular so you landed on silent wings without issue or detection. The sound of the ocean waves rolling against the cliffs were the only sound. When you went inside it was as empty as it had been when you first scanned the building; five bedrooms, a massive living room, kitchen and two bathrooms, then the base and winding staircase of the lighthouse itself with none of the sigils you'd placed before having been tripped. The the lighthouse was attached to the house like a giant chimney so you could just use the rear door in the house to get to the base of the lighthouse. On the whole the estate was a lot bigger than your room previously and already your mind was running through the things you'd buy, mostly alchemy equipment but also necessities. For the time being you just dumped all the clothes on the floor when you got inside and going to the deck door, pushing blood out from under your nails in anticipation to spend the rest of the night sealing the building against invaders.

Both as a means of hiding your presence and barring entry but also as a means for trapping any intruders who _did_ get inside with enough wards they would never escape.

Or prisoners.

You weren't going to be fussy on that last part.

* * *


	14. Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anyway I changed the last chapter so your new digs is a lighthouse at the end of a peninsula [kinda like this](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fportlandheadlight.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Frich-morin-phl-2.jpg&f=1&nofb=1) instead of a penthouse because the more I thought about it the more I realized I fucking hate penthouses lol also who _doesn't_ wanna end up being the weirdo witch living at a lighthouse who the locals gossip about? The dream    
>  But yea that's the only thing I switched around so lighthouse ahoy

* * *

Warding your new lair took the better part of the week. The only time you left was for food but otherwise you were holed up etching sigils and seals all over the walls and reinforcing the entries, sigils of blood and magic until only your blood could enter the building. You also took a leaf out of the human witch's book, buying paints and markers to draw around the seals until they blended into the artwork even if half the time if looked like you'd just thrown it all over the wall. Others you based on how Hell looked or stylized, twisted patterns of demons. You almost drew Lord Mundus before thinking better of it, knowing that A) you wouldn't be able to properly portray his grandeur and B) you didn't want to make it so blatant where your allegiance was.

Though you did end up retrieving a small statue of Zeus for your new home. It wasn't as big as the one you saw in Gaea, barely a foot high and you stole it from another museum and put it in your living room. If asked you could just fob it off as interest in human history, something you augmented with adding several bookshelves about human civilization within that era. You were reasonably sure Zeus had been the human term for Lord Mundus from these particular brand of humans as were a lot of the angel depictions for terrible, powerful beings with feathered wings and robes. Much like your father.

For the rooms you segregated them into your bedroom, a storage area, a library, a forging area, and an alchemy room. The living room was more rested in, for lack of a better word, and you found yourself liking it. You set up the glowing crystals you'd taken from the Necromonicon chambers around the room. There were huge windows with sliding doors which opened to the yard so you could sit in the sun or watch the coast. As it was you didn't have any furniture but you'd deal with that in due time, especially after you thoroughly guarded the location. You also warded the lighthouse itself in case someone tried sneaking through the tower and reinforcing the hatch door. The light itself was self powered and self activated so you didn't need to do much with it. Interestingly enough you found the bulb was made of sand from the Underworld, shaped into glass that had an unnatural sheen and would be virtually indestructible to human weaponry or storms. You had to wonder if demons specifically made homes in the Human World for fellow devils who wanted to escape Hell.

There was also the added fact Syracuse didn't know where you were but you tried not to think about it too much. The same way you'd asked Belinda about cellphones after reading about the 'GPS' systems humans employed in their technology in the library, knowing she was an Infestant, and she'd told you about tracking. You then handed over your last Stars for her to walk you through hacking the tracker embedded on your phone so it seemed like you resided in a city on the other side of the planet while still enabling Syracuse to contact you. You insisted to yourself it was on the off chance the hybrid you intended to hunt knew anything about technology and you didn't want Syracuse to potentially interrupt your plot. The secret best kept was the secret not spoken.

The only real excitement during all this was when your horns fell out for some reason. You'd just been sleeping on the floor- years of only having scratchy straw as a bed while growing in Hell left you unbothered by plush carpet -curled up in your demon form. Then one morning when you woke your horns remained on the ground. You touched your skull, feeling the skin where the horns had been and leaving you looking much like a heron. Even when you shifted back into your human self the horns remained lying on the ground. It was a bit strange but demons could change their shape depending on their attitudes or environment so you just stored your horns into the forging room. If they were like your bone and blood then you could no doubt make something from them.

The garden of your yard was mainly flora and most were for aesthetics but you went to the local town and brought a large amount of herbs and plants useful in alchemy. You should probably get a car but apparently that was another age thing the humans got bent out of shape over so you just carried all the plants in a delicate balancing act on the bus.

Using the local public bus system was also a bit strange but useful for human watching. Some got a bit weird and kept trying to help you carry things which was annoying but you remembered how humans were a social species and that aiding one another was an inbuilt instinct. The bus stop was a ten minute walk from the lighthouse but you could sprint fast enough to get there in less than a minute, even quicker if you shifted to your devil form. You then planted the flora after ripping up parts of your new yard and even added a few fruit trees to the ones already growing around your house.

After all, in your study of human-esque friendships _time_ was a big thing emphasised. You would need to establish yourself while making preparations.

Because of that you also brought some furniture and just shoved it where ever you thought it looked nice. You also found the solar panels for the house itself, crawling around them curiously and remembering how Belinda's contact meant it would minimize spending and thus scrutiny. You had to wonder how many demons that person had helped- you didn't even know if they were human or demon, for all Belinda claimed they were an unknowing third party they mentioned privacy and low presence impact quite a lot when showing you houses.

A computer was also added but you couldn't figure out how to get Devil's Eye on it. Even looking that up gave you no results so you assumed it was something you needed to get from the source since you didn't want to carry on using your phone. It was for work, after all.

You did write a positive review for Belinda, even if you simply stated she was professional and discrete without specifics, and then ordered a hooded, zipped jacket from Genuine Human Hide. The woman, who simply called herself 'granny' was kind and called you 'hun' in nearly every sentence as you sent your size to her. You didn't have much specifications with the jacket beyond asking for it to be bloodred like a humans. Apparently that was a 'popular choice' and you chose some embellishing options of flowers and vines along the hems, along with a stylized bird between the shoulders. Granny told you she'd had it done by the end of the week; it cost you the last of your orbs as oddly enough she'd wanted payment with the white ones so you used your last from killing the Banshee.

You really needed to replenish your supplies but demons were a limited option in the Human World. Even when you killed a pack of Lusachia while sent to destroy an abbey via Syracuse which gave you orbs you still had no real means of a steady supply. Perhaps you could poach some hunting jobs? As it was you tended to have a fair bit of downtime between jobs when you finished quickly. You'd only been given a handful of jobs from the Angelo that involved killing other demons. Most of the time it was killing humans or retrieving things. Humans just left meat when they died. 

While you pondered upon currency the local library was where you began to try and experiment with approaching humans. They would be a good starting point for your 'attempting friendship' goal, something to test you skills since you knew that if that hybrid 'Vergil' grew up in the Human World then you couldn't treat him how you would a demon. You had watched television detailing the friendships and spent an afternoon reading books such as _Relationships for Dummies_ and _The Friendship Fix._ There was a lot of rules about being friends and it became obvious humans got incredibly confused about friendship as they never really seemed to agree with one another. It was annoying as you'd be raised by your keeper who was stern and unmoving in their teaching methods, teaching you the one true way with no compromise. The confused state of humans was irritating so you began to apply different techniques. Most of your interactions were 'small talk' but you began to get more natural with conversing with them. 

You went through the 'plan' you'd come up with the night before and spent some time going to the local township and taking notes of human interaction with you as an observer. Violence was a big No-No, as was insults or yelling. Which put them at odds with demons in general. Swearing towards strangers was also considered rude. Now you understood the reaction of those real estate humans when you cussed them out. For Hell that would just be normal as sometimes there was screaming matches than a fight. 

Once reasonably sure you could fumble through niceties you also spent time trying to find a shopkeeper which ended up being weirdly difficult. Poisons you'd need, but the Human World didn't have any potent enough for a half demon. You needed something stronger.

Devil's Eye was the only place you knew how to contact sellers, as you didn't want to reach through Lilith. Sneaky, you had to remember. You also had to remind yourself that this was for the greater good and was _not_ deception. You were loyal to the one true king after all. Either way the app was very helpful even if the links shuffled around and you remembered how discrete Belinda had been when she'd helped with your accounting and documentation. Demons in the Human World did have to move with a lot more hesitance due to Sparda and even with the Dark Knight vanishing no one was letting down their guard quickly. A decade meant nothing with two millennium of vigilance.

You also ended up looking into that 'Snuffle's Snuff' page on the app when it reappeared, since it sounded like some of the food you'd eaten at the human carnival and thought maybe it was a food delivery system or online grocer. They had a 'teaser' video set up that you thought was perhaps like the food channels you'd watched on the television.

You were quite wrong on that front. Very wrong.

But it wasn't something you were interested so you just jotted that down as 'things I learned in the Human World' and left it at that.

By the time your jacket got delivered at a P.O. box two countries over you ended up using a question forum on the app, where everything was answered correctly albeit publicly. Some asked for locations of those who wronged them, others for advice on disposing of bodies, others for sacrificial cults, others on playing 'stocks' and some just wanted to know the nearest cheapest flower bouquets. You simply asked for demonic shop keepers who wouldn't ask questions.

You got given several responses from the moderators, a list of the sellers and their wares, so you wrote that down in your notebook and then headed to the nearest one who's shop was simply titled 'Marv's Stuff'. So far the app had made good on its word for discretion so after shrugging on the jacket, which fit you perfectly, then shifted into your devil form and took flight in a flurry of feathers.

It took some flying throughout the day but you landed down in front a small cottage on the outskirts of a remote village in the mountains. It looked rather picturesque, backdrop of the trees and snowy peaks with a little garden and stone path. You shifted back into your human form, the leather jacket keeping the chill out as you sniffed and looked around cautiously. You tugged up the hood of your jacket even though you couldn't smell any demons but as you approached there was a golden plaque on the wooden with the name of the shop etched in.

As you reached out for the doorknob a line of letter in Hell-speak shimmered into being and only visible to your demonic eyes, warning you of the conditions of entry in the store; when you passed the threshold you would be bound by the conditions which just were 'no fighting or stealing' and if you broke these conditions you'd be teleported out instantly. Though that could be in a grassy meadow or the middle of a volcano.

You had no intention of starting a fight or stealing so you accepted the terms via grabbing the doorknob and stepping through the portal.

The cottage was far, far larger on the inside with walls of a polished wood and ceiling fifteen feet high with disembodied candles hovering near the roof and giving a warm soft glow upon everything. There was dozens of shelves stacked high with all means of merchandise, walls layered with even more, and a demon looked up from where he'd been fitting a massive Devil Arm axe the same height as your body upon a show rack.

The demon blinked at you; he was tall, nearly eight foot tall with most of his humanoid body covered in taunt dark fur the colour of freshly polished mahogany. His head was a horses skull but with large horns jutting from the side of his head and deep eye sockets lit with a glowing gold pupil while the teeth were sharp and pointed. The crown of his skull had elaborate designs carved into it with more of the carvings along his jawbone, and with his horns tipped with silver. Around his neck was a brown leathered choker with patterns matching his skull, a shimmering gold orb embedded in the middle. Despite the lack of flesh on his face the Púca managed to grin at you, long jagged fangs moving as his jaw twisted up in a way only magic could make bone do.

Despite the first impression which made him seem plain, you could see how his knee length shorts were made from spun Manticore fur even if the hems were 'artfully' torn to give the idea of raggedness. Likewise his belt was of a shiny leather you were _quite_ sure was Sphinx.

"I'd say welcome but since you got in I figure you know where you at," the Púca said in a deep, drawling voice, "Don't break or rob my shit and we'll get along fine."

You watched the tall demon curiously, aura carefully brushing against him; he was strong but there was no hostile intent whatsoever. Instead he just secured the axe before walking to the thick wooden counter at the rear of the store, set up in one of the corners. He flopped down on the plush chair, resting an elbow on the bench to prop up his chin upon his fist. A bowl of overripe blackberries was sitting on the counter in front of him and even as you watched the Púca scoped up a handful before tossing them into his bony mouth. Swallowing that down he picked up a glossy magazine of National Geographic and began to read. A small drinking bird toy was rocking back and forth on the counter, next to a cash register.

The atmosphere was odd; mostly because you hadn't been so close to a demon without some sense of hostility or subordination involved. The Púca didn't exhibit any such behaviour, just carried on reading while occasionally snatching up a handful of blackberries. A Chaos demon was sprawled out on the ground like a dog next to the counter, its head resting on a tiny melon-pink pet bed. A collar of silver was around its neck. It was much like the Riots Esta had kept. Its long tail flicked but it otherwise didn't react to your presence.

The magical threads settling around you from accepting the entry seals were like a mist. It made you bristle but you tried to push it to the back of your mind as you edged further into the shop. It was even bigger than your new home and you could taste the tang of Hell upon your tongue. The entry had several tables set up with an assortment of items- along with machines full of human candy -including one with perfect miniatures of numerous demon types. You peered curiously at the fist-sized Pyrobat figurine, with all the scales perfectly etched and head glowing. There was a hefty price but also a hefty desire for the tiny little demon.

They weren't what you were here for though so you sidled by the tables and towards the aisles which were laden with so many items, many you couldn't recognize and more you did. _How did they get so many Hell native ingredients? And in such good condition?_

In one aisle there was a diminutive Leprechaun rummaging through the assortment of needles and stitching along the craft-ware, squinting between the needles and the damaged boot they were holding. You avoided the other demon and instead checked the signs above each aisle until you found one with 'Poisons, toxins, venoms and baking molds'. And wow alright there was a lot on offer, with easily over a hundred poisons alone.

There were stores of a sort in Hell, though they tended to move with the demon merchant themselves. Some, like Esta, offered services and tutoring but there weren't large shops like this. Too many roaming demons, especially the stupid ones who just attacked everyone. But this one was much like a human store and there was even music playing. At least it didn't have the horrid florescent lighting like in the human supermarkets though.

A lot of the poisons were outside your price range, with the most potent of all venoms being Queen Hydra, but there was an astounding variety. Some were designed to slather onto weapons while others were designed to be digested while others were powders or gasses within spun glass orbs to toss. There was also a large amount of books and texts about it, on how to cultivate it yourself and their correct applications.

You needed to start off small so you took three vials of weak venom from a Cerastes, Lesser Gorgon and Libya Snake while taking several poisonous leaves, herbs and barbs. You also took a pestle and mortar, several glass flasks and bottles of demonic origin, and one of the 'Poisoning for beginners' books. You knew much about such arts but wouldn't turn down learning from a different perspective since you'd need something for both human and demon. The Human World was a strange place, after all. You really needed an alchemy lab but with your depleted orb collection you were pushing it with your current purchases, so you could have to try buying some human stuff as a temporary substitute. You grumbled but kept your chosen items close as you wandered around the rest of the large shop.

There was a massive amount of items but there was also several aisles dedicated to human things, especial food. At first you were confused before realizing many demons couldn't just go to a local grocer without sending the humans into hysterics. There were also more mundane items, a lot of books about experiments, charming, alchemy or even upon the study of humans. However you got to the electronics aisle and found what you were looking for, a way to get the Devil's Eye app for your new computer. You snatched up one of the sealed disks before carrying on your wandering.

In one corner of the store a massive Divinity Statue loomed over everything, the lioness-headed woman hefting the immense hourglass across her broad shoulders which nearly touched the ceiling. This statue seemed to be carved from a deep green stone with gold accents for the Watcher's robes, vambraces and upon her hourglass. You couldn't help but approach it, touching the toes of the statue and feeling the tug at your consciousness as the statue reacted to you.

_Those who desire to acquire the ancient ways of war shall offer the blood of enemies slain in exchange._

You tensed, having seen the statues in Hell but never approached one. Now though you could actually feel the God of Time's presence and it was unfathomable and deep much like Lord Mundus felt. A part of you recoiled but the Divinity Statue was just languid and distant. In your minds eye you could see the wares offered and yeah, you were too broke for that. Even though you wanted some Stars, badly. Instead you found yourself reaching out to the presence and there was no real response. Instead you could see how the being's consciousness was stretched in so many directions, simultaneously dealing with all connections to other statues of itself. There was no looming presence, no casual power, but something ancient and apparently content to just sell wares as a reward for successful hunts. It was aware of your probing but made no effort to rebuke you; its consciousness was so stretched through both Worlds and even tangled among the past with freezing, swaying webbing that there would be no way you'd be a threat. Especially since the statues were simply a wayport for the consciousness, not its core. It wasn't attached to any physical form as far as you could tell.

Wait, was the Watcher of Time even a demon? It didn't feel like a demon, even Lord Mundus felt like one just through the steady pulse of his aura. Of the magic clinging to his presence but the Divinity Statue, for all its offer of wares, didn't have that type of feel to its consciousness. In Hell everything had that taste of magic, from the environment to the denizens, and humans just lacked it same as the seagull or the whales but the Watcher of Time just lacked either of those so what even what this being? Was it-

Then a talon tapped you on the shoulder and you jolted away from the statue, nearly stumbling into the Púca who'd poked you. There was brief, vicious urge to knife him but you quickly suppressed it, shaking off the goosebumps that rippled through you.

"You done voidin' out?" The Púca said, arching a bone eyebrow and looking supremely unconcerned about your murderous intent.

"Huh?" you asked stupidly, even as the glowing eyes of the Divinity Statue faded back to empty stone.

"You've been starin' at nothing for like two hours," the Púca, who you were reasonable sure was Marv, "And the statue was getting weird. I told you not to break my shit."

"I wasn't breaking anything," you said defensively, "I was just trying to sense what the Watcher was."

He blinked, glowing golden eyes obscured for a moment, "You were talkin' with it?"

"In a way? It's a being but I can't sense any real demonic aura so I was attempting to investigate what it is as a being," you said. The Divinity Statue was aware of you but hadn't been worried about your probing so you weren't doing anything wrong, right?

The demon stared at you long enough you began to feel uncomfortable.

"I've always had a sensitive aura," you hesitantly explained.

The Púca scoffed, "You mean being sensitive as in being in the ninety-nine percentile? That you actually sensed what the Watcher sorta ain't? Sure, if _that's_ how you wanna explain it.."

You felt self conscious for some reason, awkwardly shuffling the items in your arms before saying, "Anyway I'd like to buy this."

"Good, 'cause I ain't dealing with loiterers. This isn't a fuckin' library."

As Marv checked out your items you inspected the ones on the front counter with one of the wicker bowls having amulets much like the one Syracuse wore, designed to fold a demon down into a passable human shape. There were several varieties, some with a set charge and could last for only a few minutes or hours while others, the most expensive, would last until the wearer changed back. Demons had the advantage of being made of magic so they could change shape- Devil Arms were proof of that -but you had to wonder how uncomfortable it would be to have your shape twisted down into someone else. Especially if they were large demons. Though you doubt they were popular considering most demons would prefer their own way of camouflage or their pride wouldn't allow it.

You knew as a Púca the shopkeeper was a natural shapeshifter, able to transform into a human though they tended to favour animals like horses, cats and ravens. The Chaos demon a few feet away yawned, mandibles of its lower jaw stretching out grotesquely before settling back down.

"The cheaper ones have a small charge, so if you want a more permanent shift it'll cost you depending on the size and shape. Though a bit redundant in your case." Marv said, not looking up as his long nails tapped on the register. Each talon had a rune etched into it, glowing a faint gold which matched his eyes.

"I've seen some of these amulets around before," you said, eyeing the shimmering pendants, "Who crafted them?"

"A witch coven down in Louisiana, got the queen of the witches hangin' about down there or something. Handy touch for spells and poultices though and they're reliable enough."

Marv snapped out the cost then and you paid without issue, making a face at how you were now completely broke. 

"Do you know if there's any jobs available?" you said, storing the items inside your internal inventory, "For orbs, anyway. I have human money."

"Like huntin'? Bah, if humans call it that with all the screamin' and flailin' they do it. But check the board over by the door," Marv said, sprawling back in his chair. His long skeletal tail flicked back and forth behind him. Behind him was a bead curtain leading to what you presumed were private quarters.

"Humans lived well enough," you said, probing slightly. You had to admit you found the Púca interesting, as you hadn't met one before and one just casually owning a shop was fascinating. Rules were a fair bit different in the Human World. You knew that but now you were getting a far closer idea of how differently demons in said world lived.

Marv scoffed, sharp teeth clacking together, "Nah they only lived 'cause Sparda took pity on them. I suppose its like how humans have those lil' doggies, ya know? The Dark Knight was a weirdo anyway and before you ask, no I dunno what happened to him."

"I'm not affiliated with him."

"No one is."

You shuffled your feet, knowing the transaction was done but you wanted to ask more considering the Púca was being so placid. That didn't mean he was stupid or unaware of you but there wasn't that low hunger that had been presence in the demons in Hell. You looked over the counter, noting the photograph of a human with a signature on the bench next to Marv, along with a figurine of a small purple dragon and a bottle of root beer.

"Do you accept any type of currency?" you asked.

"If the price is in orbs it's that or get the fuck out," Marv said, not looking up from his magazine, "If it's trade then we can talk. I can hawk shit as well, though I take a commission."

That got your attention, "Do you have any rules on what you'll accept on items?"

"I don't need a runner right now, if that's what you're anglin' for," Marv said, "But nah, I can move pretty much of anything though if it's too hot I might let it lie for a bit. Unless you bring in humans, I don't herd those. Organs maybe."

Storing away that information you left the Púca and his pet Chaos, zigzagging through the tables before stopping at the news board by the door which had numerous ads and posters pinned up there. Several were offering lesser demons for sale, such as Riots and Rage nestlings, and produce from a local human farm and even lessons to understand human technology. There was also others asking for clients or services, including several asking for cake makers which confused you a little bit but then you had to admit you liked bakery goods so maybe that was enough.

However none of it was particularly helpful to you so after a moment you left through the portal in the front door and found yourself standing in the grassy yard of the cottage. The magic curled around you vanished and you looked up at the now night sky. The air was clear and sweet, the mountain peaks looming behind the picturesque cottage. Any passing human wouldn't think twice and even with your eyes you couldn't detect the charm. Shaking that off your wings unfurled from your back, shimmering white and pristine in the moonlight. You had poisons and experiments to commence but you also had to try and figure out if you would be capable of tracking down your current target, the eldest son of the Dark Knight.

After all, you doubted this other hybrid would be easy to catch but you'd encountered him twice. You would do so a third time.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marv is a Púca so he kinda looks like the [capra demon](https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fvignette.wikia.nocookie.net%2Fdarksouls%2Fimages%2F2%2F20%2FCapraDemon.jpg%2Frevision%2Flatest%3Fcb%3D20160517145311&f=1) from Dark Souls. His carved skull looks like [this](https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fdlp2gfjvaz867.cloudfront.net%2Fproduct_photos%2F29982913%2Fil_fullxfull.492032753_n0jl_original.jpg&f=1&nofb=1) as my parents have a 'head wall' at their house and one of these skulls is like the massive centre piece lol   
>  Also any magical creature is gonna be called a 'demon' in my fic even if they aren't actually demons, it's just how humans refer to them. I always kinda found it dumb how in DmC anything and everything magical is a demon, even those who just wanna chill but yea that's how they'll be addressed in my fic, even there's a unicorn it'll be called a demon.    
> 


	15. On your marks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *cracks knuckles* okay lets actually get to the pairing part after 80k of dithering lol

* * *

Of course life didn't care what you wanted and you very quickly deduced that actually hunting the other hybrid was going be quite the feat.

Scrying didn't work; you tried using various surfaces but most you'd get was a blurry image before you had to drop the spell. You guessed that Sparda was both wise and wary, wrapping up his young in sealing wards before he vanished. Considering he managed to seal two Worlds apart you knew you wouldn't be able to get past the Dark Knight's wards, not unless you got your hands on the son himself which probably wouldn't happen in a hurry.

And since he was warded against scrying other such means were beyond you as well, despite having tasted his blood and bitten off his flesh. It limited you but in the magic-less Human World such means took a far greater tool anyway and you didn't want to accidentally kill yourself with exhaustion.

From thinking back to your past two encounters you could guess the hybrid was after demonic artefacts. Considering he'd broken the Ǒusībùyúnlǚ with Yamato you came up with the theory he wanted the raw magic- like orbs or Stars, the core of any magical object could, potentially, be separated but would usually take years to achieve.

Once again you berated yourself for being too stupid to think that out of all the objects available, Yamato alone would be sharp enough to cut the core free. Just like how it could cut open the true Hell Gate.

You were getting a head of yourself so you had to go back to your first goal and realized that, while you bumping into him twice it was because of a common denominator; other magical artefacts left over in the Human World. Syracuse's jobs were less of that variety now and more of killing humans or wrecking havoc among their populace or sabotaging their facilities or doing seal work so you spent spare time going to various old sites across the globe whenever you were between jobs. You also tested your poisons, using them in different cities as to not bring your new home under scrutiny. Most were for paralysis or incapacitation, coating your nails in them to scratch passerby's and watching their effects or a dose in a cup of coffee.

Though hybrids were different from either demon or human so you had to do a precarious balance between the two as many venoms which worked on humans did not work on demons or vice versa. You kept practising even as you roamed around looking for old demonic sites in the Human World.

The Púca ended up being invaluable in that regard, both as a source of supplies and information.

Marv, you quickly discovered, was a lot more open to talking to you if you were buying or overpaying him. Loitering just resulted in him telling you to fuck off so you didn't make it a habit. As he'd said before he'd refuse to haggle with orbs but you could barter with the artefacts you'd found while hunting the hybrid or on jobs for Syracuse. You always made sure to scrub yourself thoroughly for several hours and sewed several scent dampening sigils into your red jacket before visiting Marv's shop after a drop off at Devil's Dalliance, wanting to appear neutral to the shopkeeper. The Púca had no fondness for the politics of Hell, even if that also extended to the Dark Knight.

"Demon Kings are bad for business," was all Marv said in response to your probing. 

He would always be more interested in conversation when buying/selling and actually having repeated encounters with a non-hostile demon was a novelty. With Lilith or Syracuse you did not simply 'shoot the breeze' with them as the humans would say. Marv would be willing to and he was an intelligent conversationalist if not blunt and crass. You also didn't have to worry about offending him over your fairly pathetic social skills, unlike with a human which you still struggled with.

Though you did managed to get in contact with someone who could give you jobs with orbs as payout via Marv's store. Katie, an old associate of Marv and who actually owned the branch of bakeries across the world with the name. You'd eaten the donuts there, one of the first things you ate in the Human World. The bakeries were also warp points, so business could be dealt through them via summons and one afternoon you found yourself sitting in the back room across from Katie herself. The room was very pink, with pink wallpaper dotted in cartoon marshmallows, with pink fluff on the desk, pink portraits of flowers, puppies and kittens adorning the walls, pink desktop computer and a bouquet of pink carnations in a delicate glittery vase sitting on the desk. A large plush unicorn, even taller than you, was set up on one of the room's corners.

Katie's human form was that of a young human girl, probably around eight years of age with her bright blonde hair done up in ponytails with sparkly pink ribbons and a yellow sundress. Her nail polish matched her hair ribbons while the flip-flops matched the blue of her overly large eyes. Despite her childish appearance you knew she was old, old and strong, from a single whiff.

She was an Arianrhod you knew from the musky scent that hung around her, an extremely rare type of colossal arachnid demons who were the same size of a Goliath and having a near impenetrable chitin covering their bodies. The witches her glamour must be powerful indeed, with no sign of crackage or wear despite the giant true form of the devil being forced into such a compact and well made human-shaped suit. The only sign was the glittering amulet around her neck.

A well crafted homunculus, in the shape of a middle-aged man dressed in black leather with sunglasses to match, stood patiently at her left. Sweet Clyde, Katie called him. You declined the cup of tea the homunculus offered you.

"Don't see many of your kind here," Katie said, her sweet, childish voice not fitting her cold stare, "You hybrids tend to have a fair amount of mental disorders."

"I'm not a berserker," you said. You didn't really know about mental issues. You were quite confident you were sane, in any case.

"Good. Marv said you can behave and you don't do stupid things in his store," Katie said, "Which not just includes trying to seal but not starting fights. Are you any decent in one?"

"Yes. I grew up in Hell, I know how to fight."

"I don't care about your allegiance as well, as long as you can do the jobs I give you we can cooperate," Katie said, watching you seriously over her interlinked fingers, "Don't involve yourself in my business unless I tell you it's your business. I don't care if you plan to herald an apocalypse or if you have Sparda hiding in your basement. When I give you a job say yes or no and then do it if you say yes."

"I...work for my father as well," you said hesitation, trying not to sneeze from the overpowering reek of the flowers wafting towards you, "There may be times when I will be called to his side in the middle of a job."

Katie thought about that for a moment before nodding, "That is acceptable. Families can be. Hm. Difficult. If that happens send me a message and either inform me you will either be unable to complete a job or if you can do it later."

Her terms were fair and practical; Katie had no interest in knowing what you did in your personal life, provided you could function as an agent of hers. Most of the jobs would be killing demons, since as Katie pointed out rogue demons running around killing everyone put her masquerade at risk and she preferred her little kingdom to be ruled somewhat civilly. You understood.

You also asked for a phone, not wanting to use the one Lilith gave you after Belinda explained the likes of trackers and keyloggers even with the Infestant hacking your tracker. Katie gave you one, very basic compared to your current one, and told you it would be taken from your first pay check then sent you to kill a swarm of Pyrobats terrorizing a local town. You left and killed the swarm without incident, something that took you nearly two days due to the erratic nature of the demons and the local forest they'd taken to hiding in.

The combination of both Katie and Syracuse left you fairly busy but you eagerly welcomed a more steady source of income and spent more time haranguing Marv at his shop. He didn't mind as you kept buying things and his Chaos demons didn't seem bothered by your presence either; as you discovered he had two of them and seeing the large spiky demons trying to share the tiny pet bed was more entertaining then it should be.

"Beauty and Bliss," Marv said, when you asked their names. Brought from one of the breeders you'd read on the notice board. You didn't have a fenced in yard at your lighthouse despite being rather intrigued with the idea of a pet Rage. You'd have to settle with the birds that visited.

"Katie said you're doing alright, one month in," Marv said after ringing up the several books you'd brought, "She usually screams at me on the phone 'cause people are actin' like fucking idiots."

"She likes pink," you said after a beat. You didn't mind pink either, you had some pink woollen gloves you brought at one of the town's shops along with a bunny-eared hat for winter.

"You like red," Marv shrugged, "Always wearin' something red when you come in."

"I grew up in a stone castle, only colour was when I bled," you said, toying with the sleeve of your jacket.

"Bit cliché but the fuck do I know, eh? I like gold."

You put the books into your shoulder bag, which was shaped like a watermelon, after paying Marv, "Humans like gold. They pay a ludicrous amount for it."

"Yea, some alchemists made a fortune turning rocks and crap into gold. Whatever works, ain't any more human mages so its easy way to get money. They love their papery money even though it ain't burn good."

"I'm learning that, they like many things that make no sense," you said dubiously. Even visiting the towns near daily you still found a lot of human behaviours odd.

Marv gave you a sharp look, "Figured you'd know, being half one."

"I lived in Hell, I only came here recently. I only learned about humans in theory until recently."

"Huh. Makes sense I guess, y'all do come across as a bit of a dumbass."

You scowled at him and the Púca just shrugged, not bothered at all.

"Just saying, be careful with humans. Most of them have too much meat in their head but some get cunnin' despite dying so easily."

"I haven't met any that've impressed me yet," you said. Not even a decent fight with the ones you've executed for Syracuse.

Marv laughed, a loud obnoxious noise, "They're mostly like that but there's the odd one or two that can do shit. Pretty wild when it happens, with the gossip. Especially with Sparda fuckin' off to France or wherever he went, humans gotta defend themselves now. Not that they're any good at it. Even I'm a shit fighter but I can still do it, ya know?"

"Humans are a uh, peaceful herd society," you said, "Or they keep their violence structural. They're so strange at times. It would be easier to just kill one another."

"It's 'uncivil'," Marv said, doing air quotes with his sharp fingers, "They'll starve each other to death by the thousands but shoot one and they all lose their minds."

"Maybe they feel guilt in acting true to their instincts, they have a great deal of dependence on their 'civilized' life."

"Well if you can't live with the guilt you can die with it," Marv said with a shrug, "Happens sometimes even with demons, ya know."

Which was true, some ancient demons just gave up on life and crystallized in statues. Most never knew they actually used to be alive. Very rare but not unheard of it. Though incredibly difficult to achieve. For most demons, they would either die from violence or not at all. You weren't sure if old age would become an issue for you.

You had no intention of dying peacefully in bed anyway, yours was a violent life and you would leave that way.

Either way the conversation was making you feel uneasy for some reason and you kept thinking of that strange woman you healed which just invited a messy jumble of emotions, so after some more light talk you left with Marv's flippant wave and comment to come again.

* * *

It was actually in a small seaside town when you got your break, near seven months after your last altercation over the Necronomicon. It was one of your independent personal item hunts, actually collecting seashells and sea silk for your steadily growing alchemy room back at your house. The idea of a home was still a novelty and you used that as an excuse for not noticing the other hybrid's prowling. You'd spent nearly two weeks harvesting byssus, various shells and sea glass, storing them in your knapsack and taking notes as you prowled along the coast. Esta had provided you with simple spells of sensing with pieces of sea glass had soaked in enough of the oceans current and surf to be of use. It had to be at _least_ over decade of age to be of any remote use to you.

The searching was calming, devoted to simple foraging and due to the peaceful nature of the Human World there was no real fear of being attacked as you wandered along the beach and climbed around the cliffs. You also curiously inspected numerous wildlife, the starfish, sea anemones and little crabs that inhabited the tide pools. The speed at which you recognized local flora was getting quicker and quicker, and you were pleased you were getting so familiar with this World. There were also the birds which were a lot more tolerant of your presence than any other animal type, mostly squawking sea gulls which trailed around after you.

In fact you'd been lulled into a fairly content mood that when the hybrid appeared you'd been caught off guard. A stupid mistake but you had confronted him the last two instances in private, in the back of a warehouse and the gullet of a cove and you thought it would be in another such place to run into him. So when he seemed to appear out of thin air to confront you in the middle of a town as you had morning tea outside a small café overlooking the seaside cliff you nearly choked on your cup of tea.

"What is your intention here?" he demanded, not even waiting for you to put your cup back down.

 _Rude,_ you thought even as you carefully swallowed down your mouthful of tea. He was Human World born, wasn't he? He should know human social cues and demanding something from a stranger without any introduction was considered impolite. But finally, _finally_ you'd tracked him down. Your patience was being rewarded.

Admittedly you'd left signs at sites you'd visited, intentionally pricking your finger and leaving a drop of blood at each location here and there. An 'accidental' tear on a sharp corner, a tiny paper cut on a book, a small slice along a sharp angle. He'd been splattered in your blood before, he'd recognize it unlike any random demon who'd stumble into the site and simple guess a random half-breed. So he must have an idea you, personally, had been prowling around. And in this seaside town you'd been less careful with your presence in the two month build-up, moving through several old demonic sites across the country left from when the Worlds were one in a scattered but obvious trail until reaching the end of the landmass with the town. Luck also had it that Syracuse hasn't needed you for any jobs in the last few weeks, meaning you could continue with your trail without being too obvious or missing.

While your face remained a blank mask inwardly you were absolutely gleeful and nearly squirming with excitement; your theory was correct in that he was searching for demonic artefacts even if you hadn't been able to sense him and he'd noticed your trail. Noticed and ended up getting volatile enough to confront you. He also clearly didn't care about causing a potential scene amongst the humans, already getting curious looks due to his frosty colouration and katana. 

It didn't matter to you since your prize had revealed himself. However you swallowed down your giddiness into something controlled before responding to his abrupt accusation.

"I'm drinking some tea," you finally said after a mutual bout of angry staring.

He obviously didn't like that, bristling like an angry cat. You could feel your own lip curl in response to his rising aggression, teeth and nails becoming sharper. You gripped the sides of the table, about to hurl it out of the way and get in a full on brawl with the other hybrid before you froze in place.

Because you wanted to _befriend_ this hybrid and all the books you'd read and shows you'd seen made it very clear humans did not view violence as potential overtures for friendship. Yes he was rude but as much as you wanted him bleeding it wasn't your goal. You weren't some wild beast but knew if you got in a fight with him and he refused to back down there was an immensely high chance you'd both end up dead. And that just wouldn't work with your plan.

So, with extreme restraint, you released the sides of the table and carefully sat back down. The other hybrid didn't relax, his icy blue eyes not straying from yours and grip knuckle-white upon Yamato which you took great care to not even glance at.

"If you wish to attack me then do so," the hybrid said, looking down his nose at you despite also being around your own sixteen years of age, "You aren't much of a tracker, considering you're sitting in the open so brazenly. Or perhaps you're just simple minded."

He had his arrogance wrapped around him like a cloak, protection for whatever the world would show him. You could understand, fear or uncertainty invited nothing but contempt. It did explain why he went for a confrontation rather than just fleeing to the shadows to avoid you.

"You're rather full of yourself," you said, "Thinking I was after you, as if you're anyone important. Who are you?"

He didn't like that at all, obviously used to people, or at least demons, recognizing him. Used to being hunted from his importance and seeing his anger at being dismissed so easily was a fairy bit entertaining and a rather nasty smile appeared on your face before you could control it. You heard the slick _snick_ of him pushing up Yamato's tsuba with his thumb and your own hand twitched, nearly a hairsbreadth from summoning your rapier.

Then you both got interrupted by the waitress in the café, the young woman setting down the hot gourmet bagel you'd ordered previously and seemingly oblivious to the tension in the air. That, or she was professional enough to ignore it so you simply thanked her in Sicilian which got you a sunny smile in return before she went back inside.

While you could sit around engaged in a glaring contest you knew that wouldn't really help with your goals, so instead you picked up your bagel and got to your feet. This time with a great deal less coiled violence. Keeping your body language somewhat relaxed you took a bite out of your bagel, watching him as carefully as he was watching you. Seems your stalking had the unintended side affect of testing his patience. Clearly he was used to more straight-forward prey, or at least the more stupid, violent demons. Luckily you weren't interested in outright killing him and you had to make that apparent. 

So you decided to try another option.

"How about we go down to the beach?" you suggested, deliberately breaking eye contact with him and pushing away from the table, "That way if we do end up hacking each other to pieces we won't terrorize the humans while doing so."

Without a backwards glance you left to the cliff side stone path leading to the shore, taking another bite out of your bagel. If he wanted to backstab you he could do so easily enough but you got the odd impression he wouldn't do such a 'dishonourable' thing, just like in the Necronomicon chamber when he didn't take the chance to attack your exposed back while he had the chance. You also bet on the idea he was curious enough to follow, despite his paranoia. He'd confronted you so readily, after all.

And you could work with that.

* * *


	16. The beach

* * *

As expected, you reached the beach unopposed but mainly because the other hybrid decided to completely forgo the path to instead leap down in a blur of blue to land upon the white sand below.

You eyed him critically as you carried on using the path; there was no hesitation or shift in stance despite the change from hard rock to sand and he was slight enough it barely sunk under his weight despite the twenty metre drop. Environment could just as be as much of an ally or hindrance depending on the demons but you wouldn't find any with him, at least not upon a beach. Ah well, you weren't looking for a fight.

Well that wasn't completely true but you had a goal in mind and getting into a bloody fight wasn't going to bring said goal any closer.

So you just continued down the stone path, the dull roar of the waves pushing against the surf and surrounding cliffs curling in your ears along with the occasional squawk of gulls. Your unhurried stride was vexing the other hybrid, even if the only outward sign was his nostrils flaring and grip around his katana's hilt tightening. Subtle enough you wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't been so fixated upon him even if you kept your face carefully blank.

The bagel was good; if there was one favourite thing you had to pick about the Human World it would be the food. Toasted bread, spiced ham, some type of soft cheese and various other ingredients you weren't familiar with. Either way it was good and you took another bite out of it even as you reached the end of the path to the long stretch of white sand.

You stopped several feet from the other hybrid, watching him as he watched you. Your stance was a lot more nonchalant than his own, resting most of your weight on one foot while chewing away. He glared, the unnatural blue light of his eyes easily noticeable.

He looked better. Less lean and tried. There were still bags under his eyes but they were shadows compared with the bruises you'd seen before and even though he was wearing a long coat he seemed less lean. His pushed back white hair looked very fluffy and you kinda wanted to touch it.

Yamato was resting against his thigh but you had little doubt he'd be able to unsheathe the katana in an instant if you decided to attack him; your previous encounters let you know that he was quick, perhaps even quicker than you. Still, he wasn't anywhere near your level in terms of spell casting and you clicked your sharpened nails against one another.

"I'll ask you once again," he suddenly spoke, his low voice making you blink, "What is your intention here?"

You had various options available to you. Accuse. Scream. Curse, maybe. Hurl a fireball and see what he'd do. Just say 'screw subtlety' and turn into your devil form and attack him outright. Throw your bagel at him, even.

Instead you decided to completely ignore him, walking past to reach the tide pools along the beach to sit on one of the rocks with your feet just dangling above the sandy shore. Using your free hand you trailed your fingers back and forth through the shallow salty water of the tide pool.You could easily pour your aura into the water, turning it into a veritable weapon to control it as easily as your own blood, but for the time being you remained nonchalant. The other hybrid was certainly giving you a lot of leniency, as he still hadn't turned outright hostile despite the barely controlled violence of his aura, but you also noticed he kept a safe distance from you despite your casual behaviour.

"You're the one who ruined my lunch," you finally said after a bout of mutual glaring, brandishing your partially eaten bagel at him before continuing, "Though I suppose if you want we can wait until the sun sets and then butcher each other on the beach then," You gestured across the white sand and then towards blue sea which stretched off to the horizon, several seagulls swooping by with languid flaps of their ashy wings. You did like the sunsets in the Human World. In Hell time didn't exactly function so linear and sometimes the weather was as vicious and wild as its inhabitants. It was supposed to be a clear night coming as well.

The white sand would also make a pretty picture in red. You were wearing your red hooded jacket after all though you wondered if your body would disintegrate into orbs or a Devil Arm like a true demon in death.

"So that's your intention, to slay me on a beach?" his voice remained completely flat and emotionless after another bout of staring. 

" _You_ approached _me_ ," you pointed out, leaning back on your rock, "I don't understand why you're accusing me of things when you started it. I'm just here searching for alchemy ingredients."

To strengthen that, you shrugged off your knapsack and awkwardly pulled out the handful of byssus you'd harvested even as the other hybrid tensed at your movements. The sea silk shone slightly in the sunlight, the filaments delicate against the skin of your palm. The other hybrid clearly didn't appreciate the finesse required to find the byssus and just gave it a suspicious look as if he thought it was a grenade you were about to throw in his face. Maybe he wasn't into alchemy? You put the sea silk back in your bag, nimbly buckling the belt shut while resisting the urge to pout.

The delicate skin between his brows furrowed and for a moment you thought he would attack you. He was clearly on edge and you didn't miss the way he kept casting quick, nearly missed, looks around the surrounding area. Most likely thinking you were stalling for an ambush or backup. Instead you kept your aura calm and controlled. Your keeper had literally beat self control into you, along with a fairly intense control of your emotions. You were quite confident you could lie past any questioning he might give you. Edge past the suspicious, the anticipation of a fight. It was too high a risk you'd die or kill one another in a straight up brawl. 

_Remember the mission. Remember your goal._

It was like your plans just about fell out of you head like a deflated balloon, a part of you thrumming with eagerness at a fight. He was the firstborn son of your father's greatest enemy and you wanted to present his severed head to the rightful King and the bloodlust was making it difficult to concentrate. However another part was intrigued. Because, well. You'd never met another one of your own kind before. For the first decade and a half of your life it was mostly due to you being kept within the mansion, with only your keeper but even when running through Hell you never met another hybrid. Many demons had been interested in you, hissing and rasping about your mixed blood as they hunted or tried to kill you, but you'd never actually met another of your kind.

The silence between you didn't make you uncomfortable and you had to wonder if this hybrid ever conversed with the numerous demons who'd hunted him. Maybe he was more wary due to your human appearance? Or that fact you were unknown, in terms of affiliation and general attitude.

"So that's your story," He finally said, eyes cold and you could see the glint of fang as his lips curled, "It was complete happenstance, the last encounters." 

"Yes, it was. I caught you vandalizing the Ǒusībùyúnlǚ-"

"I was not vandalizing it-"

"- _vandalizing_ a priceless artefact and like any decent, law-abiding citizen of this World I had to intervene," you said, even as the water you trailed your fingertips through slid up to embrace your knuckles. 

"I see. You were just doing your civil duty then," his tone was blistering.

You had no idea what 'civil duty' even was but nodded along, speaking around another mouthful of bagel, "And our quarrel over the Necronomicon was due to a perfectly legitimate conflict of interest. I hold no grudge for it. The book should reform again at some point in the future, if the tales are true. What did you want with Al Azif anyway?" You swallowed down your mouthful of toasted bread and ham, asking him innocently, "Preparing to dabble in necromancy? Or learning to be a summoner?"

There was no response, just more staring. Maybe he just didn't like talking?

In your peripheral vision you were aware of a family group of humans approaching along the beach. Your gaze didn't stray from your opponent, though the mother of the group must have picked up on the crawling tension and not even twenty yards she quickly snatched up her young and harried away the others, quickly leaving the way they came. 

_Smart human,_ you thought even as your eyes never left the other hybrid's.

After a moment you politely offered your name. Human social standards would enforce he would have to introduce himself to you in turn, especially with you still playing dumb with his identity.

Instead you just got a nasty look and a part of you wanted to throw your bagel at him.

Rather than waste your lunch you said in a scolding tone, "You are rude. You have no manners at all."

Then you lurched to the side to avoid getting your face bisected, nearly tripping over your feet as you barely avoided the katana's swing. Damnit, he was ridiculously fast.

Still, you weren't defenceless; you yanked up your hand, the tide pool water latching up onto your wrist as you lashed out. The aura-infused water swept froward in a fluid serpentine mass, the edges frozen into razor-sharp ice that you struck out at his face. He dodged, taking the hit across his cheekbone rather than his eyes like you intended, and you nearly got a katana through the gut. 

With a brief flash of your wings you flipped out of the way, landing on the dark stones with the whirling water stream still clinging to your hand like a liquid arm. Even without your rapier you could attack him with the water; freeze the edges for a blade edge, or even mix it with a fire spell to turn it into boiling steam.

_Stop it. Control yourself._

You bared sharp fangs at the other hybrid who still had his weapon drawn, the slice along his face already healed but pale skin stained red, but with a force of effort you folded your wings back into non-existence and backed further up the rocks rather than close the distance.

He was confused by your refusal to attack, considering the last two times you'd done your very best to kill him. Confused but still defensive even if he hadn't pursued you up the rocks.

"Look-" you began.

Then a seagull collided with your wrist, the abrupt impact surprising you enough you dropped your half eaten bagel on the sand. It got instantly swarmed by surrounding seagulls, pretty much turning that patch of beach into a screaming feathered mass as you hopped backwards. None of the seabirds cared at all about the sharp aggression between you.

"You thieving bastards," you snapped, fed up and fighting off the urge to kick them. You liked birds but this was just pushing it. _And that was a really good bagel._

You cast the hybrid a quick look but he just seemed very unsure. The point of the Yamato had lowered and he was still standing on the sand rather than chase you.

Taking a risk you inched forward and, ignoring the way he tensed, you poured the water back into the tide pool. The numerous animals that had been caught in the water you'd taken instantly scurried for safety, cramming themselves into the nooks and crannies of the tide pool rock as they were returned.

"I don't want to fight you," you snapped at him once you were done, having to raise your voice over the screaming of the still-fighting seagulls.

"Then what _do_ you want?" he snapped right back, tone suspicious.

"I told you before, I was just looking for artefacts," you said, "At the Gaea I just saw you destroying one. Then in the cove you showed up after I was already unbinding the book. And here, I was just looking for ingredients for some personal things and you decided to confront me over it. Like before I don't even know who you are."

He watched you closely, gaze flicking down your body before focusing back upon your face. Blood stained his cheekbone and jaw and you could see the way his fingers clench around the Yamato's hilt. The blade shone in the clear sunlight and you quickly shifted your gaze back to his face.

However he noticed your slip in attention and he spun the blade easily in his hand even as he asked in a fairly mocking tone, "So she intrigues you none?"

"I have my own sword," you replied easily enough, briefly summoning your rapier in a flare of magic motes before dismissing it just as quickly, "Why would I want yours?"

There it was again, the little spasm in his face as you continued to defy his expectations. Off to the side the seagulls had finished their feeding frenzy and were now squawking and hissing at each other, little webbed feet pattering across the sand. You ignored one even as it bumped into your foot, watching the other hybrid keenly.

"I'm not going to lie," you said tentatively, adding some tentative hope to your voice, "But I suppose I am pleased you approached me."

"Why?" he titled his head to the side, coattails swaying in the mild wind blowing across the beach. He looked pretty against backdrop of the ocean and white sand with his pale skin and hair paired with such cold blue eyes.

Shoving that unhelpful observation away to the back of your mind, you spoke truthfully, "I've never met another hybrid before. Is it so hard to believe I'm curious about you?"

Suspicion crossed his face, making his nose scrunch up in an oddly endearing expression. Then his expression shuttered and there was a wet _snick_ as he sheathed his katana in a single graceful movement. With one hand he wiped away the blood along his cheekbone with a thumb, eyes flashing blue as he shot you a lingering look before he turned away.

It was much like when you'd left for the stone path, intentional and certainly could be taken as an offensive or arrogant gesture with showing his back. You didn't rise to the bait even if the other hybrid decided to be completely rude and not even reply as he left. 

Well, by human standards anyway. There wasn't enough screaming and swearing and personal insults for it to be considered rude by Hell standards. You made no effort to follow him, knowing that slow and steady would be the rule of your current play. Instead you let him leave without complaint or attempt to chase, back up along the tide pools so you could find a spot far enough from the town you could fly out without being spotted.

"That could have gone worse," you mused to yourself, after losing visual of the other hybrid as he left the beach on foot without a backwards glance. It could have gone a lot _better_ but at least you were both still breathing and you'd managed to talk him down from a fight. That he hadn't insisted upon one once you'd shown you weren't hostile.

Or maybe he thought you were addled in the brain and decided to leave so he didn't have to deal with you. Either way it worked out for you, you'd managed to show non-violence and if you kept a close eye on it you could cultivate that stance until it paid off. He had a common interest and you'd crossed paths before, you'd gotten him intrigued enough to confront you. You'd just have to wait for the next cross road, take it inch by inch.

His scent lingered in your nose, something mild and so human it was surprising before the salt air brushed it away. The seagulls screeched as you nimbly traversed the the rocks, a part of you still annoyed they'd stolen your lunch but it had provided enough of a diffusion to the fight between you and the pale hybrid.

Once you hopped down from the rocks to follow the narrow path following the cliff face you ran through future plans, where you could slowly and steadily claw you way close enough to capture him. Plans didn't exactly go perfectly when coming in contact with the enemy, especially with such an unknown one so you weren't too bothered your latest encounter ended fairly sloppily. You had already known it wouldn't be easy, to catch the eldest son of the Dark Knight. Too paranoid, too suspicious by far.

But he'd left without further violence and you'd planted the seeds of doubt. Your disinterest in Yamato and even his blood, such a thing had obviously caught him off guard. 

You would succeed with this, even if it took you years or your own life. You would catch this hybrid and the sword he carried. 

As the humans liked to say, slow and steady wins the race.

* * *


	17. Red on you

* * *

"Ah if it ain't Red. Have fun?"

You resisted the urge to slam down the engraved barrel on the counter, instead snapping, "I got shot for it."

"Maybe you shouldn't let your dumbass get shot next time, huh? There's a thought," the Púca was immune to your glare as he picked up the barrel, his glowing talons clicking against the wood.

You'd spent the last three days creeping through a jungle to find the facility to steal said barrel. A 'runner' job, Marv had pitched at you. He obviously didn't mind your human appearance and cited your lack of stupidity as a plus. You agreed without a fight, since your last mission from Syracuse had been inspecting old portals to Hell and in that case it was Erta Ale. Pocket entries, scars, left over from where the Worlds were one. But to your frustration the Dark Knight hadn't been idle in his wandering, the old gateway completely sealed shut with nary a wisp to reveal its original intent if Syracuse hadn't directed you to it. Much like with the Hell Gate of Fortuna Syracuse had been disappointed but not surprised when you reported back to her. Sparda was a seal master completely above you despite your natural inclination for reading sigils, forged over two millennium. 

After that exhausting quest you'd accepted Marv's offer of a more simple job as, unlike Katie's, it didn't involve fighting and just seemed to be thievery.

Or it was supposed to but the human guards at the facility had shot you when you got caught falling through the flimsy ceiling. Wasn't your fault their building was terrible and structurally unsound though out of all the reasons to be shot for the first time it was over some weird-smelling spice that Marv asked you for. The engraved barrel you were carrying contained 50kg of it and according to Marv it's 'raw market' price was five thousand dollars per kg when he lobbed the job at you. You briefly looked up saffron, which was a flower, and figured it would be easy enough. But no, humans were mad enough for spices they'd shot you over it.

Being shot actually hurt; there was a far greater impact from the bullets than you anticipated and you'd been so caught off guard by it you'd been knocked right off your feet before you managed to lodge a sharpened feather through the human's skull. Unfortunately being shot several times meant your custom jacket and pants were ruined from the armour-piercing rounds, which already left you in a bad mood. Not to mention you hadn't wanted to risk crashing while flying, since you'd been shot in the head at one point which left you dizzy and disorientated, and didn't want to drop the barrel by accident so you had to go on foot through the humid jungle until you reached the edge.

You were also stained in red, the bullet wounds healed but blood all over your face where you'd been skull-shot and splattered across your clothes from other bullet entry points. Marv however was immune to your black glare as he fussed over the barrel and when you shifted your weight you felt an uncomfortable _twang_ shoot through your thigh. Ah, must still be a bullet lodged in there. Probably the one that snagged you when you escaped over the perimeter fence.

You shifted your hand into long claws as Marv continued to fuss over the engraved barrel, golden scales shimmering across your skin. There was already a sizeable hole in your trousers from the impact so you just just dug past the tattered fabric to core out the muscle of your thigh. It took some digging but you managed to pull out the squashed bullet from where it had been halted by your femur. Ignoring the blood spilling down your leg you eyed the lump of metal before tucking it into your pocket. Then you inwardly focused on your thigh, white light consolidating around the wound as you quickly used your aura to heal the torn flesh. 

Bliss heaved itself up to its feet, the Chaos demon stomping over to you before dropping to all fours to lick your blood off the floor with a glowing purple tongue. You didn't really care, even if the great spikes on the demon's back were dangerously close to your face. The silver collar around its neck was dotted with tiny diamonds and there was a tiny name tag in the shape of a bone dangling from the collar.

The honey-hay scent of saffron suffused your nostrils as Marv deftly unscrewed the barrel top, muttering to himself before taking the barrel out back through the bead curtain without a single look at you. You leaned against the polished wood, watching Bliss as the Chaos demon licked the floor clean before looking around at the knick-knacks Marv had strewn across the counter. Your foray into human music let you know that the photo he kept at the counter was actually an autographed picture of Frank Sinatra, with little red heart stickers dotted around the edges of the picture frame. To the side the drinking bird continued with its rhythmic swaying, red beak pecking at the thimble worth of water before knocking back up.

Bliss stopped their snuffling of the floor and started to sniff at your torn clothes, the mandibles of their lower jaw flexing before it started to try and lick your bloodied hand. You made a face, pushing at their scaled forehead to try and push them away despite the size difference, since the Chaos was nearly Marv's own height even hunched over as it was. You didn't want to get your hand bitten off. The other Chaos, Beauty, carried on sleeping in the tiny pet bed and snoring softly.

"Here ya go, Red," Marv thrust a small bulbous glass vial at you with a handful of the dark strands of saffron coiled inside, even Bliss backed off from its attempted licking at a click from Marv, "Take it was a pity pay from gettin' your stupid ass shot though I'm taking it from your payment. Gettin' shot is quite the burn, eh? Just wait 'til you rumble with a human with enchanted bullets. That shit's wild."

You took the vial from him, admiring the colour of the saffron and shaking it slightly. The spice rolled around the clear glass, almost looking like disembodied spider legs.

"It's mainly for cooking, isn't it?" you asked, squinting at the spice, "I suppose I could find some alchemy recipes. Most of them are just throwing things into a cauldron and hoping it does something."

You _did_ have a cauldron set up in your alchemy room, having added a little open fireplace for you to cook things. You figured it would be safer to not bring any of that into your kitchen, to limit the chance of accidentally poisoning yourself.

"No shit, you want to snort it or somethin'?"

"What?" You had no idea what he was talking even if you'd noticed humans had a weird habit of shoving things up their nostrils. You liked scents as much as the next demon but humans were just weird about it.

Marv shrugged, his skull muzzle twisting up slightly, even as he handed over the rest of the payment of red orbs, "Humans grind up stuff and snort it a lot. And you being half human, maybe you're into that shit. Actually got an aisle for human drugs and stuff, some demons wanna know if it works on 'em. Doesn't really but could for you. Like heroin and coke."

"Isn't that a drink?" you asked in confusion. Honestly you didn't understand the Púca at times even if you got the feeling he was trying to sell you something.

"Live a little, Red," Marv said, rolling his golden eyes.

"Why are you calling me that?"

He made a careless wave of his hand, "'Cause you always got red on you."

You looked down and alright, he had a point. You really could do with a bath but you'd just wanted to get rid of the barrel before you did all that. And you knew Marv, being a demon, wouldn't really care about you bleeding everywhere. His floor deserved it anyway.

Preparing to needle Marv, you snatched up a Rage and Geryon figurine from the table behind you. That would cost half of what Marv paid you but the Púca was always more willing to talk when being paid and you had thought about questioning him for a while. That and you really did like those figurines with such wonderful detail; it was as if the sculpture had just frozen and shrunken down the actual demons.

As he rang up your purchase you asked, "Since you seem...well used, to the Human World. Have you ever met the Dark Knight? I haven't seen hide nor hair of him, even with you and Katie sending me around the place."

"Never ran into him and I've been here a while," Marv shrugged, long talons clicking on the keys of his register, "Though way I see he don't give a shit what you do long as you're not guttin' housewives or chewing the heads off little humans. That gets 'im bitchy. But keep to yourself and he usually leaves you be."

 _Interesting._ You didn't know that about the Dark Knight, that he'd over look demons living in the Human World provided they left the humans alone. Katie seemed wary of him as well but then again she clearly preferred control and Sparda's betrayal two millennia ago made it clear he only obeyed himself. Then again you'd always thought the Dark Knight was an oddity, a lone demon among the teeming mass of humans, before you discovered there were a lot of demons living peacefully in the Human World to the point they even had ones offering aid to others who wished to integrate into the Human World. Even the more hostile ones like Lilith and Syracuse still kept a low profile in fear of the Dark Knight's return while ones such as Marv seemed more ambient, neutral. Especially considering he disliked the concept of a King coming to this World but he seemed fairly uncaring of Sparda's potential presence.

"I wonder where he went," you thought aloud. Thinking about his first born son always made you think of Sparda in turn. Always the low level caution he'd reappear, that perhaps he'd feel your probing at his seals or your attempted manipulation of his child. You doubted he would be forgiving if he caught you.

"Eh he's got two snotty brats right? No wonder he ran away. Who'd wanna deal with that shit," Marv said, holding out his hand for payment.

You handed over the orbs without complaint, asking, "Do you have nestlings?"

"No, I can't."

"Why is that?"

Marv looked you right in the eye, "Because I hate them."

"Oh." You suppose that was a decent enough reason. You had no real inclination for offspring either, you life was devoted to the King after all. You had to wonder, however, what type of parent Sparda was. If he was like your own, distant and leaving the entirety of raising to another. Or perhaps he was like your keeper, completely involved with no hesitation to using violence upon his charges when they made mistakes. A pity you couldn't use that angle with the other hybrid, at least socially aware enough inquiry's into missing parents weren't welcome in human discussions.

"Humans are weird about their little family units, basically worship that shit, though enough of them kill their offspring it makes you wonder why they scream and panic over demons," Marv continued, "As if we all do the same shit."

You really didn't know. Demons varied wildly with family units as well, some staying with their parents until they got their own mates while others had to flee right after birth to avoid being eaten by their parents. Others were more lax, not bothered if their offspring lingered around the nest while others actively defended their young. You remembered seeing a Cerberus while enduring your one year free ranging Hell, who'd been cornered against a cliff by a pack of Sins and Mancer demons. The Lust, Pride, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath and Envy demons had surrounded the Cerberus and bloodied her heads and left her limping while the spells of the Mancers were blasting her from a distance. Their goal had been the three tiny Cerberus pups cowering underneath the great three-headed dog's bulk, the magic of young Cerberus far more flexible and susceptible compared with adults. The mother had been ferociously, viciously, defending her offspring, her furious howls and screams echoing through the quarry as she vomited lightning and fire at the demons surrounding her and mauled any foolish enough to get within range with sword-like teeth or crushed them under boulder-sized paws.

You had watched for some time before moving on, especially as more and more scavengers appeared to watch the fight to feed upon the loser, so you were unsure who had won. But it was your first encounter with a demon being so vehement in defending their young, ready to die for them.

Perhaps Sparda was one such parent before his vanishing? Did he languish and turn to stone after finding out what happened to his mate and young? Did he even care at all? 

Either way you guessed the topic of Sparda would go badly if you broached it so you made a mental note to avoid it if you could the next time you found the hybrid. You could, perhaps, bring up your own- edited, of course -history, angling for the shared mixed blood and lack of close relations, lack of available parents. Empathy was a big thing for humans so you could try using that.

"You done voidin' out or do I need to fetch the smelling salts?" Marv asked you flatly, jarring you out of your scheming.

"Nope," you said, picking up the figurines before turning away, "I have to get ready for a hot date."

Marv's cackling laughter followed you out the door.

* * *


	18. Name

* * *

_A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, it is a form of endearment and amusement._

You frowned at the tiny text on your phone, in the middle of a break during your seal cracking inside the now-slaughtered witch coven of Los Angeles. Unfortunately your jacket had been beyond repair from your saffron run so you'd gone without it, just dressed in a red t-shirt, dark trousers and boots as you sat upon the desk of the top floor office. The lush carpet and polished walls were splattered with blood and there were severed limbs strewn about the room. You absent-mindedly ran a hand through your hair, only to flick out a disembodied tooth that had gotten tangled within the bloody tresses.

The job was from Syracuse, ordering you to destroy the coven as you would a nest of vermin. Witches and the like had long been soldiers for humanity, their only real utilization for magic and there had been slow and steady plans put in place to exterminate them due to Sparda's disappearance. Without the protection and looming threat of retribution of the Dark Knight, Syracuse had deemed it viable to start methodically picking off such humans to benefit the goal of permitting Lord Mundus rightful entry to the Human World. You had noticed many humans were skeptical of demonkind and such a thing was to your benefit, especially looking so human as you did. Though it was small steps, as Syracuse said as the coven you'd been sent after were isolationists and not true allies of Sparda due to their deep hated of demons and wariness of non-magical humans. But a small step in the right direction nonetheless.

Much like the lone witch you'd killed, these ones were wary enough to hide their eyes from both mortals and devils alike. The entry for the hotel had seals cleverly etched into the elaborate sculptures and mouldings of the stone building with more on the tinted glass of the doors. The handle had burned your skin when you touched it, rebuking your demon soul while tricking your human eyes and senses. 

Still, it only took two days for you to crack the seal. Not having to sleep so often was a boon and at the final day you breeched the security and got inside.

The clerk, a fairly bored looking woman flipping through a glossy magazine, didn't think twice of your entry especially dressed fairly plain and human-shaped as you were.

It was only when she looked up after you crossed most of the marble lobby that she froze. Just like that witch in the docks she understood you were not a true human with a glance and in half a second you'd leapt across the room to land nimbly upon the desk, the sai slicing open her throat as easily as a berry and spraying the air with scarlet.

Though not before she managed to slam on the panic button, alerting the rest of the coven to your presence. Oh well, you'd sealed the door after yourself with a simple enough sigil.

Then it had been pandemonium, getting attacked by several witches even as the air became charged with the reek of ozone as you slaughtered your way through them in a haze of blood. You also utilized your advancement in poison making, lobbing the delicate glass globes where they burst against the floor or walls to unfurl clouds of white shimmering dust. They were varieties, from causing coughing and running eyes to blistered skin and hallucinations. You were quite pleased to know humans were so susceptible to such things, even if the more experienced witches were quick to throw up spells to purify the air around them.

It was a hair raising experience, fighting a whole coven. Most of the floors were empty, the hotel being fifteen stories high, but they made you work for every inch. The younger ones died quickly enough but the old witches hadn't lived so long for nothing and if not for you accelerated healing you would've died. There was also a lot of fire throwing though it seemed the witches had taken pains to keep the wallpaper fireproof via charms and seals which were in your favour. It was also fun to fight non-demons, as you'd been fairly disappointed by humans in combat but the magic of the witches was fascinating to fight especially with how strong they were with it.

Though you got your answer as to _who_ the witches were syphoning magic from to fuel their spells when you got to the top floor. It was behind a massive armoured door you actually struggled to open and once inside the entirety of the room was saturated in seals of containment and energy transfer that vibrated the very air, all centralized around Aamon. Looking much like a giant wolf with a snakes tail and head of a raven, the demon looked up at your entrance with his great big black eyes resembling an owl. His tail flicked to the side as he blinked once but otherwise he gave no response to your impromptu entrance.

The devil didn't bother attacking you and watched as you studied the mass of seals etched throughout the room. You quickly discovered the witches had taken pain to hammer in complex sigils to restrain Aamon enough he couldn't escape the central seal but enough that he could still recuperate the power they were stealing, to essentially keep him powering their spells indefinitely.

You could tell from a glance the chink in the seal work and it was easy to break the connection to Aamon and the lodestones storing his stolen power; it would weaken the leader of the coven, who you could still sense in the building, and stop her from drawing upon the captive demon's strength in the coming fight. It would also let Aamon escape eventually as his power was strong enough the seals would have to be continuously tweaked as it would wear at them much like rust upon metal but you weren't under orders to slay the devil and he made no comment from where he was resting on his furry belly in the centre of the room even as you shattered the shimmering stones acting as batteries. One you kept, storing it away in your internal inventory to study later.

Then you went after the final witch, punching down the cold iron door to her office to leap right into battle.

The fight was vicious and bloody and she managed to blow off one of your arms with a tricky compressed explosive spell in a shower of blood, bone and golden scales, but the outcome was never in doubt. Not to mention that in your devil form your beak was as sharp as any sword and even humans couldn't function with their brains skewered.

Even so, you made sure to fully dismember her just in case she had any tricks up her sleeve. Eating her offal helped facility the regrowth of your missing arm and you absent-mindedly watched as the limb crawled back into existence. The white bone first then veins, nerves and tendons sluicing around it in the crimson mass to be followed by muscle and lastly skin.

With her dead there was no other haste, as it would take weeks for Aamon to escape so once your limb grew back you settled down on her desk and started the arduous task of going through the many, _many_ files and books the witches kept.

You would have to also thoroughly check each floor for anything of note to take back to Syracuse which was its own burden but you bore it without complaint. You'd only take anything of importance, after all.

Eventually when you took a break after nearly seven hours of ceaseless decrypting, eyeing the witch's decapitated head that you'd put on the table next to a small pot plant. Through the beak mark puncturing her temple you could see the wrinkled pink of brain and white of her skull. It made you start thinking back to Marv, with the head and then around the room which was splattered in crimson with more of it staining your bare arms in slowly cooling rivulets. 'Red', he'd called you. 

You weren't sure why he called you that- then again you couldn't even remember if you'd actually told the Púca your name -so you ended up using your phone to see _why_ he'd do such a thing. You did not think he was mocking you, since the demon would've done it right to your face if that was the case, and after some different searching an answer came up with 'nickname'.

A familiar form of address, a substitute or even a title. You weren't unfamiliar with titles, for Lord Mundus had over half a dozen various ones or different means of address but they weren't casual like what Marv called you. None would dare.

Insults could be used as a 'nickname', such as for Sparda among demon knights he was known as the Oathbreaker. But for humans 'nicknames' were commonly stated to be mostly used relatives, friends or neighbours as endearments or familiarity. Admittedly you had dealt with Marv on a fairly regular basis in fairly cordial terms and had been using him as a means of social interaction unlike with Lilith or Katie who were too aloof or standoffish, but it was odd to think the Púca was comfortable enough with you to give you a term of affection or familiarity usually reserved for companions. 

You'd never had a friend, never had anyone close or even an acquaintance. Your keeper was the closest thing to a 'parent' you had, due to raising you but they would not fit the human definition of parenting. There was no tender words, no physical affection, just unyielding expectations and a ready fist. And with Lord Mundus you would never dare assume a place of importance with him despite your blood tie- you were a useful servant and that would be all even if a part of you buried deep inside yearned for more.

Even in Hell the times when you'd conversed with demons had been sporadic and short and then in the Human World none stood out to you as humans were entirely that; too soft and frail, if they knew you were a devil they would panic and not understand and simply for that you felt more kinship towards devils. Lilith and Syracuse were your superiors so you would never approach them casually or dare to intrude upon their personal time. Katie wasn't a superior since she wasn't affiliated with the King of Hell but she was someone who you picked up mercenary work for to supplement your income. There was a sense of professionalism between you both, especially since Katie had no tolerance for mincing of words despite Sweet Clyde trying to serve you cups of tea every time you showed up. With the other hybrid you were careful, very careful, with your words and how you presented yourself. Showing him a mask and feigned offers of companionship, or at the very least a less hostile relationship which you were getting inch by inch. Certainly not someone you would let your guard down with.

Marv was the only one you felt 'casual' about, as conversing with the humans at the town your lighthouse was close to just felt like an experiment or high pressure to be normal so they wouldn't notice what you were. But with Marv he didn't seem to care and he knew full well what you were.

_Marv feels affection for me?_

That didn't seem right, considering the Púca's fairly abrasive personality and his habit for cussing you out if you'd loiter for even a moment. He only deigned to speak to you when you brought things which admittedly you did quite often. The lounge of your house now had several shelves with the numerous figurines you'd brought neatly showcased. You gnawed on a bloodied fingertip, unsure of what to think. Maybe he was mocking you? No, that wouldn't be it. He'd just do that right to your face, you were pretty sure.

Though you found that didn't mind the nickname even if it was after a colour. You already liked red due to growing up in dark and cold grey stone so the crimson of your blood staining your limbs and stone was your only real companion and brightness. 

Even now you looked down at your hands and bare arms which were stained in red. You scrubbed at the partially dried lines and just smeared more of the colour across your skin. There was more staining your face and seeped into your slowly-regrowing hair. Whatever.

After going through the rest of the witch's office you took the books of note, mostly journals or experiments or more binding rituals you stuffed them into your colourful bag, the one in the shape of a red and green watermelon slice. It was annoying how you were limited in what you could put in your internal inventory, the lack of magic upon Human World objects meant you couldn't put them there but you liked the bag itself. You did think upon the logistics behind making a bag of perhaps your own skin with seals to see if that would also be a means of bypassing that limitation but as it was that project was pushed back to scribbles in your notebook.

You used the face wipes in the attached bathroom of the office to clean off the blood upon your bag. There was also a severed finger caught in the zip with you tossed in the bathtub. Rummaging through the drawers only revealed numerous shampoos and face washes including a little tub of powder-blue facial scrub that smelled amazing, much like that cloudy 'cotton candy' you'd had at the human carnival, so you decided to take it as well.

Then it was the slow task of searching each floor but oddly enough there seemed to be no great storage; one room _could've_ been a library but now it was just gently smouldering ash, from which you presumed happened when you broke in. A way for the witches to keep safe their most precious of secrets. Oh well, you'd expected as much. There was nothing salvageable and your boots were stained in ash and you smelled like smoke when you finished searching the scorched room.

There were other rooms that just resembled a hotel, freshly made bed and cabinets as if awaiting guests. Others were clearly lived in, having been in use by the witches you'd just killed. A few had been the sites of the fighting, carpet torn and walls stained but even now having the time to ransack them didn't reveal a lot. Most things of interest you had was from the coven leader's office which you had on hand. You did take several books that caught your eye however; most were about spells, alchemy or seals which you already knew but you guessed that having a 'human' perspective might be helpful. The death of this coven wouldn't go unnoticed and you had the suspicion you'd lucked out in killing this one so easily. 

It took you nearly seven hours to work your way down the hotel, inspecting each room thoroughly and then checking over anything of interest to see if it was of worth. You did find an armoury which was empty even if you could see the indents on the wall of where arms were supposed to be held.

However when you were rummaging through the pantry of the hotels kitchen you twitched as you felt your seal break, a tiny shiver at the edge of your awareness. It was the one you'd used on the front doors, simple and quite basic and more of a padlock compared to the heavy wrought vault of the witches original work. Considering you were in the middle of a human city it wasn't likely a typical demon had wondered in.

Carefully you put down the can of peaches, your rapier appearing in a flash of sparks.

On silent foot steps you crept through the hotel, making your way to the front lobby where you could feel the low pulse of demonic energy. Aamon was still trapped upstairs so it wasn't him. You leaped down the stairs in a single bound before pouncing through the doors to land on the bloodied marble floor of the lobby, rapier in one hand and an electrified spell crackling upon your fingertips.

"You've been busy," the eldest son of Sparda told you levelly. Next to him the body of the receptionist was slumped crazily in her chair, head tipped back so her slit throat gaped wide. The blue of his clothes was in cold contrast to the crimson splattered around.

_Ah._

You had to wonder if it was the seal or the reek of blood which had lured him in. Either way you were pleased to see him even if he didn't seem to reciprocate. If anything he looked annoyed. Whatever, you were the one who did all the heavy lifting so he could deal with it. And you were here first.

With a flick you dismissed your rapier even as the electricity vanished back into your skin with a sharp crackle. Golden scales pebbled your knuckles but you ignored it as you said with barely repressed glee, "Witches like to horde knowledge. They uh. I needed to use _strong_ persuasion methods with them."

He stared at you unblinkingly with cat-bright eyes before nudging the receptionist's cadaver with a fingertip, sending it toppling to the floor with a wet thud. You felt acutely aware of the dried blood splattering your clothes and bare arms, more of it tangled in your hair and teeth.

"Is that what they're calling it now?" His voice was low and controlled even if you noticed he had his weapon drawn.

"Not a lot of people offer up information freely, much less humans. Scant knowledge they have," you shrugged before eyeing him suspiciously, "And why are _you_ here? If I didn't know better I would say you were following me."

An ugly scowled marred the pale skin of his face, a flash of his bestial nature shining through, "Certainly not. But when a magical building becomes abruptly revealed anyone would take note."

 _Oh yeah._ Well at least now you understood he was nosy, nosy enough to cut through your seal and creep in like a street cat. Nosy, curious and invasive sure but you could work with that.

"A witch hunter, are you?"

"I am no such dog. They simply have things of worth to me." he stepped around the counter in fluid movements, still not sheathing his sword despite you not being aggressive.

This time you didn't have to feign your interest, "You do seal work? Is that what you're looking for? How long have you been studying it? Can you read them naturally?"

You very nearly asked if Sparda had taught him, your mouth all but watering at the prospect, but had enough sense to know that would blow your nonchalance. Could he read them without training, like yourself?

You only realized you'd moved forward eagerly when he pointed the tip of the Yamato at you, barely an foot away. You had the brief thought of letting yourself get stabbed by it so you could get your fangs into his face but instead you just flashed him a toothy smiled and backed off, kicking aside a severed leg as you did so. It hit one of the pillars and you ignored the spidery web of frayed muscle that got caught on the toe of your boot.

"My interest is none of yours," he said finally said, voice so icy you half expected him to start breathing frost.

You laughed, the noise nearly inching towards hysterical with your giddiness even as you ran a hand through your bloodied hair. And oh there was another tooth. You flicked it to the side where it clattered along the marble floor and you noticed the brief grimace that flashed across the hybrid's face.

"No interest? Then why are you even here?" your expression grew dark, smile curling nastily, "I killed them. This is _mine._ Don't think you can just walk in here and take whatever you please when you don't even have the courtesy of asking me first."

A flick of his katana and you easily sidled out of reach, wings manifesting as your eyes sparkled dangerously. His anger was pointed and sharp like needles as your auras buffered against one another like two wolves snarling.

"A clever move, tactically," you taunted, unable to resist the urge to dig your claws in despite your mission, "Wait for me to slaughter the coven, make me tired from the fight, and then swan in here for an easy defeat. Considering our last few encounters I expected a bit better."

He snarled at you then, lips curled to show a line of fangs as his eyes flashed cerulean, "Spare me, I have hardly a need for the aid of some tumultuous mercenary."

"Oh? So you're instead investigating the tragic death of the coven out of neighbourly concern? Well, I'm glad you have _such_ a vested interest in the preservation of human life," you said, smile still sharp. You were pushing it, you knew, but you really couldn't tolerate playing some weird hapless maiden. You also doubted he'd be receptive of that anyway.

And your demon was very insistent that this was your kill and he had no right to take the bounty. You hadn't searched the receptionist's desk yet and for all you knew she had a logbook in there somewhere.

Pointing a bloodied finger at the other hybrid you said harshly, all traces of humour leaving your voice, "I killed them so I get first pick. Then you can peck at the carrion afterwards, I don't care. Or eat them if that's your thing but not until I'm done."

His anger shifted to disgust which you didn't know the reason for but you decided to ignore him, instead striding past to leap over the receptionist's desk. You could almost feel the icy bite of his sword but to your surprise he didn't chop off your arm when he got the chance. He certainly jumped back, the Yamato making a hissing noise as he flicked the katana nimbly in his hands but didn't try attacking you. He was so weird.

As you started rummaging through the dead receptionist's clothes you took several even breaths to help yourself calm down. The fighting with the witches had left you tired despite your earlier eating and in turn it made you irritable; you didn't enjoy being not at your best with a Son of Sparda so close to you. Though you were fairly sure you could give him as good as you got if it came down to it.

 _Which isn't my intention. Ugh. This is harder than I thought._

Annoyed you shifted your teeth to fang and bit through the corpse's with a rough chomp, feeling bone and cold skin break beneath your bite. Then you threw her head off to the side in a gory mass before showing your hand down her exposed esophagus. It took some rummaging but you pulled out the small glittering orb resting in her trachea. Spherical like a marble and hard as diamond. The charm held and you guessed it was some type of spell amplifier, keyed to the witch's voice. Demons could do such things naturally, channelling magic through their chantings to cast spells but it was fascinating to see how humans compensated for their mundane shortcomings. It probably felt like she'd had a piece of food stuck in her throat, perhaps making it difficult for her to swallow large portions or drink quickly but obviously something she was fine with compromising. It was almost a pity you'd killed her so quickly, a part of you curious how it would've functioned.

Still, it was human magic so after some staring you tucked it away into your internal inventory. Checking the rest of the headless woman's body revealed the start of tattoos, poking out of the top of her bloodstained collar. Much like the witch you'd spotted at the docks, all dark sharp lines. When you roughly ripped open her shirt there were more of the curling tattoos decorating her bare chest to consolidating around her heart. The focal point of the tattoo was an anatomically correct heart, seeped in red among the black brambles of the surrounding tattoo. _Hm. Were they specific to each coven? Where they amplifiers? Storage for charm perhaps?_

As you started swiftly skinning the corpse with your sai you heard the other hybrid speak.

"Must you do that?"

Quizzically you looked over at the other hybrid. He'd rounded the desk but was still at a safe distance, standing near the ornate key stand with an expression of immense distaste. The Yamato was still unsheathed in his hand, despite him not attacking. His aura was uneasy but not violent despite his expression.

"Do you do that often," he continued, tone completely flat, "Dismembering the dead."

"She's dead, she's beyond caring," you turned back to your work, the sai cutting through the cadaver's skin easily. The tattoo only covered her chest so you quickly sliced through the skin and then deftly pulled it free with a noise like wet cardboard tearing. It was much like when Syracuse flayed you. Oh well, at least the witch wasn't alive to feel it.

He only responded with a grunt but at least he wasn't arguing.

Being so close to him you half expected the sai to react; it was, after all, your keeper who had been loyal to Lord Mundus. However nothing changed in the chilly blade as you sliced through the clinging tendons of the skin. Some Devil Arms was like that, all but inert while others were chatty. It was as if your keeper had succeeded in their mission of raising you so felt no use for lingering. Oh well, at least you didn't have to worry about an irate enchanted blade blowing your cover.

You flicked the sai away, not at all concerned with the other hybrid's staring as you rolled the bloodied skin up into a tube before tucking it into your bag. You'd hand it over to the Angelo later, see if she had any use for the odd spells the witches inked into their skin. Perhaps it was some type of channelling? You weren't sure.

That done you effortlessly ripped through the exposed muscle and fat to pry apart the witch's ribcage. With bloodied talons you tore out the heart in a spurt of blood, the organ cooled but still edible. You snapped it down in two bites, hooked fangs puncturing through the thick organ easily as you got back up to your feet. It'd help recuperate your strength even if you kept acting nonchalant with a threat so close. You mentally kept telling yourself to act casual, much like at the beach.

So now time to search the desk.

You'd started rummaging through the papers when you caught a look on the other hybrid's face. He wasn't disgusted or shocked but looked completely off guard. It was like when you claimed to not recognize him nor his sword but with a hefty dose of wariness added. You blinked at him, bloodied fingers pausing on the sheet of paper.

"Something wrong? Thought you had some rummaging to do," the sarcasm inched into your voice. You licked your lips, blood staining them crimson with some shreds of muscle stuck between you teeth.

He ignored your words, instead saying in an almost accusatory tone, "You are a cannibal."

"Cannibal? What's that?" you asked, titling your head to the side. Red dripped off your chin to plink onto the polished wood of the desktop.

"It means you eat your own kind," he said, still watching you intently. 

"Ah. Did humans came up with that word? I was raised in Hell, we don't really have a term for eating demons there. It's just what you do, it's how it is," you said casually. Interesting though, that humans had a specific term for eating one another. For demons everything edible in the Underworld was demonic; even the plants, especially since most of the time said plants could attack you right back. Because of that there was no need for specifics, much less a term for eating another. _Cannibal._

"Actually if we go by 'eat your own kind' technically I wouldn't be a cannibal unless I ate you, wouldn't I?"

You grinned at him, fairly oblivious to the morbid picture you portrayed; blood splattered with gore coating your mouth and fingers, eyes sparkling with an unnatural light and sharp teeth stained in red. He seemed equal parts intrigued and wary of you. For some reason you liked him looking at you in such a way.

"Lucky for you I just ate and I have things to do," you quickly broke your staring contest, instead looked back down at the papers in your hands before making a face when you realized it was just a grocery list. Throwing that to the side you started ripping the drawers out of the desk, searching through the contents.

Aha, a phone book. A quick flick through revealed it was in code but you tucked it into your bag before leafing through the huddle of magazines.

"We're both outsiders," you said almost absent-mindedly, fingers leaving bloody prints on the pages, "Too wild for the humans. Too tame for the demons. We're inbetween and outside altogether. Our own little species."

"So that's what you are? Despite you being born and bred in Hell by all accounts, I would assume you related to that part of your nature," he walked around the desk, standing at the front as if he was a client you were about to ring in. His katana was sheathed but still in hand and you had to hide a grin. Despite your fairly rude banter he wasn't leaving which meant he was still curious or wanted to keep you in sight. 

"I was raised there but I escaped recently. I'm not too used to the Human World," you admitted. It was part of the backstory you'd concocted; the best lies were those born in truth. You planned on staying to your keeper's upbringing, but simply substituting your father as an underling to the King of Hell and that you escaped at the age of fifteen. A year in Hell before you found one of the sporadic openings to the Human World and then spent that time roaming.

"Considering humans find cannibalism as a great taboo I would assume so," he said dryly.

_Nosy._

"It's not like I do in it front of them, I'm not stupid," you said, throwing aside a fashion magazine, "Humans panic over everything. Even getting hit by a car sends them into hysterics. Considering how much those machines are a part of the humans lives you'd figure they would be used to such a thing."

But at least that experiment let you know that yes, you could survive being hit by a car. The eighteen wheeler was a bit of a different story but you still survived that as well. A fair bit nastier looking than the car but still. 

He didn't fish for more information but you didn't expect him too. It was like sticking a toe into a pool to see as if it were hot. Careful. Almost tentative. Still, it was a movement in the right direction and just what you were looking for.

Though you now didn't have an excuse to linger as you were a bit annoyed to find nothing else of particular note in the receptionist desk besides the coded phone book. It'd give you something to do anyway.

You looked up at him to find him still staring at you. His white hair looked ridiculously soft and fluffy and you had the weird urge to run your hands through it. You blinked slowly, fingers twitching at you side.

"Well..." you searched your brain for any means of lingering but figured that was too obvious. So after a moment you took one of the basic seal work books from your bag, sliding it across the desk towards him. He didn't made any effort to approach even if his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Since you spotted that sigil on the door maybe that's what you're looking for," you shrugged, feigning nonchalance, "I can read seals naturally so I have no use for this."

"You're giving it to me. Why?"

A smile flickered across your bloodied face, "As I said back on that beach, I'm curious about you. Humans fear us and demons despise us. Not much else to it."

"So that's it, some odd feeling kinship?" he looked down at the book then back up to you, his eyes flashing like chips of ice.

"Nitpick at my words however you like. Anyway I'm done here so do what you will with the rest," you waved a hand back towards the grand staircase and assortment of dismembered bodies littering the carpeted steps, "There's a demon on the top floor but he's going to be stuck in those wards for a while so you could just ignore him. He's just...there."

The other hybrid carefully picked up the book you'd left on the counter, making sure to not touch the bloodstains you'd left on the cover, before looking over to you with an unreadable expression on his face, "So you're just going to leave? No intention of fighting me?"

"I told you that you could go through everything once I'm done, and now I'm done. I have no use for anything left here. Why would I fight you anyway? I've already eaten," you couldn't help but tease.

It landed badly as he immediately looked wary, spare hand tightening around Yamato's hilt as if he expected you to lunge for his face. Alright, no joking about cannibalism then.

"But yeah, if you want to fight that's your problem and not a game I'm interested in playing. I'm fine with erm. Coexisting. But if you're interested in any other carrion picking I'm going to be doing some witch hunting myself in the coming months, they're a right pain," you said. It was an open invite. If he wanted to track you down that is and you had a strong idea he would. Humans were very fond of the saying _'Curiosity killed the cat'_ and he was lingering when he could've left long before. Seems your habit of diffusing a situation was paying off.

"Though....I didn't catch your name last time," you finished hopefully. There was a bizarre urge to fiddle with the hem of your t-shirt but you fought it off, instead watching the hybrid keenly.

The silence dragged on until you thought it was its own answer before he finally made eye contact with you. Something flickered behind his eyes, something you were unsure of how to interpret, until he spoke quietly, "My name is Vergil."

"Well Vergil, it's quite nice to meet you," this time you didn't have to fake your smile even as you made sure to show no recognition whatsoever at his name. 

There was that look again, as if he wasn't sure you were just thick headed or addled in the brain but you didn't linger. Instead you nimbly sidestepped a pair of legs on the ground, organs squishing under your boots as you walked across the lobby to the door without pressing him any more. Uncaring of your bloodied state you gave him a cheerful wave as you grabbed the door handle even as he continued to look at you oddly while remaining at the receptionist's desk with book and sword in hand.

"Maybe next time we meet it'll be a less bloody affair, hm?" you said, cocking your head to the side, "But I doubt that'll suit either of us considering. You know I read something of a human poet that said _'These violent delights have violent ends'_ and I mean, you've seen my work. There's more of it upstairs and on the walls. Abstract art, right?"

And without a backwards glance you left the hotel littered with the bodies of the door, the door slamming shut decisively behind you as you stepped out onto the busy street. You walked off among the flood of humanity going about their business, ignoring the way you garnered stares and humans granting you a wide berth due to your bloodied state even as you mentally crossed off a line on your list.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But for real I remember one time I was in the city and there was some dude walking around covered in blood and everyone just ignored him 'cause he knew where he was going. It was weird 


End file.
